The Cracked Angel
by Bree In Diamonds
Summary: Cuddy becomes a patient in her own hospital after being attacked in the parking garage. The only one who seems to care about this tragedy is Cameron. The two bond as things get complicated when Cuddy's condition continues to remain undiagnosed
1. No One Will Miss You

**The Cracked Angel**

**Rating - Starts off T, ends with M**

**Pairing - Cuddy/Cameron**

**Takes place more towards the end of season 3, more so when Chase and Cameron briefly stop sleeping together. **

**My first House fic, so be nice :) **

The time had just touched noon and Lisa Cuddy was on the move yet again. This just wasn't her day. With House giving her grief, on top of one of his patients having an ailment that no one could properly diagnose, her stress level was unusually high. She didn't usually interfere unless she had good reason, but when House and his team were at a loss, she had to step in as a last resort. The patient was admitted yesterday morning and as of eight am this morning, Cuddy made herself a part of the diagnostic team. She grabbed her lab coat from the stand and donned it for the second time that day. After that, she went to pull her hair back, but stopped when she managed to catch her reflection in the mirror as she turned. She liked her job and the respect that came with it, but on some days, like today, she wished she became a novelist or a painter instead. Time is really catching up with her. Instead of just bags under her gorgeous blues, her eyes seemed to be in the middle of individual giant red circles that no amount of makeup could cover up. Her eyes also looked much colder with being surrounded by tiny little red veins in the white areas. That must be from crying a while ago. Why had no one mentioned them to her? Especially House. He would be the first to point any malformations, no matter how small or pointless. Cuddy wasn't one to sprout tears at any given moment, in spite of her calm exterior. She usually cried when she was happy. Since she had nothing to be happy about at the moment, every person working in the hospital was probably busy trying to figure out why the great Cuddy was reducing herself to tears all day and avoiding everyone when the chance came up.

Now, her hair on the other hand, is matching her mood as well, for no amount of hairspray can hold it down! The stress-causing frizz ran through her beautiful raven hair, ruling its thumb in every strand. And it didn't end here. She also spilt coffee on her lap earlier today and had to go home to change, because it was very noticeable on her light red skirt and she had no clothes in the office. If that wasn't bad enough, House had a field day with the fact she spilt her coffee and rubbed her nose in it all morning until she was able to get a hold of a change of clothes. She had just returned now in a different set of black clothes, something she could hide stains on if necessary.

That son of a bitch, if he wasn't so good, she would have him out on his ass so fast, he wouldn't know what hit him. He gets on her last nerve every time he opens his mouth. Like she told Edward Vogler, she protects those who are assets to the hospital. House was a mere asset. She had no interest in him and at times wished she could find someone just as good so she could kick his ass out of her hospital.

Cuddy closed her eyes and shook her head after that last thought. That's not true. This place wouldn't be the same without House.

Speak of the devil. Here he comes now. Cuddy rolled her eyes and turned her back to the door with a heavy sigh. She almost made it out undetected.

"I just thought I'd come down and maim you for not making mine/your/our patient better yet. And by maim, I do mean verbally, of course," he said in his usual sarcastic tone and then brought his brows together. "Glad to see you're back and with a fresh pair of clothes. You do, however, still look like hell in the beauty department. Makeup might work with that problem."

"House, I'm really not in the mood for your mockery right now, okay? I'm tired and I don't need to justify myself to you." There were obvious tones of defeat in her voice, but House didn't get it. If he did, he didn't care. She tied her hair back finally and then grabbed a blue folder from her desk. When she went to leave her office to head back upstairs, House stood in the middle of both doors, making it impossible for her to get past.

"There's a big, comfy couch in my office we can share if you want to take a nap. I don't think Chase and Cameron will be using it any time soon. Guess their relationship didn't work out so well…or whatever you call meaningless kinky sex wherever, whenever, and on any surface you can think of," he said, not moving from the double doors.

"House, the only way I would share anything with you is if by some awful miracle, we were buried in the same cemetery plot," she said wryly, not appreciating his sense of humor. She didn't realize how strict she sounded until the words replayed in her head after she said them.

"Ouch!" House said dramatically, holding his hand over his heart. He wasn't deterred by her harsh tone. "You got me right here, Dr. Cuddy, and it hurt."

"Good," she said, not breaking the direct eye contact. "Excuse me."

She pushed her way by him and out the door, not looking back.

"One of these days, you're going to need me!" House called after her.

"Don't hold your breath," Cuddy muttered, heading for the nurse's station in the clinic to sign off on a clipboard that was being flashed to her while she fled from House's sight. She seriously considered taking the stairs so he couldn't follow her.

"Hey, don't get mad at me because you can't diagnose worth a damn. You should've left it up to me and hadn't interfered. I still don't even know why you did," he said, following her close at her heels. "Of course now, thanks to your oblivious demeanor, the patient will probably die because you're too stupid—"

"House," she said, spinning to him quickly. Her blue eyes flashed angrily at him. "This procedure is hard enough without you adding your narcissistic preeminence into the picture. Get out of my face or you're fired."

House snorted. "Yeah, I've heard that threat before. You think I'm going to pass up the chance to watch you misdiagnose someone? Not a chance. I'm so coming with you."

He walked out ahead of her. Cuddy hung her head with a sigh of defeat. He never gets it.

"Do you enjoy doing this to me?" she asked when they entered the elevator to head up to the third floor ICU.

House tilted his head in thought, although no thought was needed to form an answer. "Yep," he said simply. "It's not often I see you in action, unless it's in the clinic, and I hate it there, so I never get to see you anymore. I miss you." A stupid, silly smirk appeared on his face, signaling he was full of shit.

"Oh god, spare me," she muttered, exiting the elevator first and walking purposely fast down the hall. She wanted to lose House the easy way. She had too much on her plate and didn't need this from him.

Her patient's room was at the end of the hall where much activity was suddenly taking place. The familiar sound of a flat line could be heard echoing the hallway. Cuddy kicked up her fast-paced walk into a run. Her heart pounded in her ears as her heels assaulted the linoleum. She ran into the room, immediately demanding status. When she heard that her patient was coughing up blood and then all of a sudden stopped breathing, she became extremely worried. Early on, she already ruled out liver failure and internal bleeding, so the blood had to have come from something else. Cuddy quickly donned gloves and literally ripped the paddles from Cameron and shoved her to the side. Each of the five people in the room had a job to do and it involved moving fast. No one seemed to have notice Cameron recover from being pushed painfully into a nearby chair and nearly falling over.

"Clear!" she yelled out the first time, shocking the patient's heart.

When that didn't work, she ordered the machine charged higher. Because she didn't know what her patient had, it was difficult to predict an outcome with using the paddles. After charging the machine to the norm, she got nervous to the point where her own heart started to speed up. She hated to lose patients, especially if it's a patient she or House couldn't diagnose. It made her try twice as hard and start to overreact. Cuddy had never lost a patient, even back when she was a fulltime doctor. If she lost this woman, she'd never be able to sleep peacefully again.

"You're killing my wife!" a voice said over the ruckus.

A sharply dressed man in a tan suit crashed through the doors and pushed away anyone who got in his way. Everyone in the room knew him as the woman's husband, who had never left her side the entire time she was here. He even slept in the hallway last night. He appeared to have taken this calmly, but now, he went off the deep end.

"Sir, you can't be in here now," Cameron said hurriedly, trying to stop him with her small frame from entering the room further, but that didn't work. He pushed her out of the way just the same. Luckily, she was able to gain the proper footing and not meet the linoleum.

His goal was Cuddy. That was obvious. Ever since he stepped through the automatic opening doors, he was hot on her trail. Cuddy didn't notice, for she was focusing on saving her patient. She and three others were still fully focused on saving the woman, even though Cuddy had shocked her five times already and her heart was on its way to being fried However, Cuddy wasn't giving up.

Cameron had recovered from her small stumble and she, as well as the rest of the staff of five tried avidly to remove the woman's yelling husband from the room and back into the hallway without the use of security. It had gotten to a level that they never thought would reach. Because Cameron wasn't that strong to begin with and the rest of the ICU staff was no match for the man's rage, he broke through them and went for Cuddy. He pulled her away by the arm first, and then pushed her away from his wife's bedside, letting her know very loudly that she killed her and she would pay for it. Cuddy was horrified. Her eyes said it all. She didn't care so much for the threat, it was the fact that a woman died in her care. She wasn't in any mood to fight back. In a way, the man was right. His wife was dead and Cuddy blamed herself. If she or House properly diagnosed her patient, she would be alive right now.

Watching him sob over his dead wife's body made Cuddy start to cry. She covered her mouth to stifle a sob. All she needed was more time! If she did, everything would've been fine!

"Are you okay?" Cameron timidly asked Cuddy. After an episode like that, Cameron was afraid to approach her boss.

Cuddy met Cameron's eyes, but only for a moment before she looked away. She said nothing, only glanced back to the woman's husband as he wept over her body.

When the second tear fell from Cuddy's eye, she fled the room. She couldn't handle it anymore.

Her feet took her back to her office where she would write the report on her patient. She continued to beat herself up and tell herself that over and over again in her mind that it was her fault. Many times during the report, she would continue to space off and think about the things that she could've done to save her life.

About an hour later, Cameron entered her office.

"We have a problem," she said, stopping in the middle of the room, shoving her hands in her lab coat pockets.

Cuddy chuckled, but no humor came from it. "Got that right," she muttered, flipping to the final page of the report. She didn't bother to look up at Cameron once she was in her office. That last thing Cuddy wanted to deal with now was people. God forbid House came into her office.

"I'm serious." She finally got Cuddy's eyes to meet hers once she rested both hands on the surface of Cuddy's desk and leaned in. Cuddy had no choice but to look up, for her personal space was practically being invaded against her will. "The patient's husband isn't just angry anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Cuddy asked, bearing a frown. "And if you must bother me, at least take a seat or something. You don't have to be so close."

"He made a threat against you," Cameron said, ignoring her request. "We overheard him talking to someone on the phone. He said you're completely responsible for his wife's death."

"The man's grieving. You probably misunderstood him." Cuddy was passive, not taking too much interest. She was busy fumbling with papers to listen to Cameron.

Cameron shook her head. "No, I didn't. Chase and Foreman heard him, too. Foreman's notifying security and someone will be with you for the rest of the day." Cameron paused when Cuddy wouldn't stop doing what she was doing to listen to her. As far as Cameron was concerned, it went in one ear and out the other. Cuddy didn't so much as hum a response. Feeling frustrated, Cameron slammed a hand over Cuddy's to stop her from shuffling around. That took Cuddy by surprise and caused her to gasp and look up at Cameron. "Why aren't you taking me seriously? Do you think I'm just saying these things for my health?" she asked angrily when it looked as if Cuddy was finally paying attention to her.

"And you're the lucky one who volunteered to come tell me that my life is in danger," Cuddy said flatly, harshly ripping her hand out from underneath Cameron's. "Why?"

Cameron frowned. "Why? Because I'm worried about you, that's why. The guy is a total nutcase! You saw the way he barged into the ICU today when we tried to save his wife. For all we know, his threats are real."

"Worried?" Cuddy repeated, followed by a chuckle. "Cut the crap. We both know you want me to fry in hell." Cuddy picked up a nearby pen and started working.

Cameron's frown deepened. She felt a twinge of anger burn inside. Even if Cuddy was angry about the loss of her patient and it had a profound affect on her, Cameron didn't feel it was necessary for her to be spoken to this way. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"It's really not hard to figure out. Walls have ears, Dr. Cameron. You're lucky you still work here."

Cameron had no idea why Cuddy would assume this and had to figure it was just something that came out in the heat of the moment. However, she was quick to defend herself. "I—"  
"Thank you for telling me about the crazy husband," Cuddy said, cutting her off irritably. Their eyes firmly connected. "Security won't be necessary. Tell Foreman not to waste his breath. Leave."

Cuddy had a lot on her plate. Anyone who knew Cuddy knew that she would never lash out like this, not even to House, but evidently losing a patient will do that to her. Cameron understood, but still felt angry for being snapped at. She wasn't sure why, but something inside made her want to fight back. Cameron narrowed her eyes. She wasn't done yet. There were some things she needed to get out before making her grand exit. "Forgive me for caring. And now that we're getting so personal, don't ever push me out of the way again while I'm doing my job."

That probably wasn't the best thing to say. Her tone of voice maddened Cuddy. She looked up. Angry icy blues met grey sky. Cameron struggled not to falter under Cuddy's powerful glare. Her grip on the back of the chair in front of Cuddy's desk tightened. The voice in her head told her to run for it while she still had a job here, but her feet wouldn't allow it.

"Do you have a problem with the way I run things here, Dr. Cameron?" she asked, voice low and strict.

"Only when you interfere," Cameron said truthfully, remaining fearless. "What you did was uncalled for. You think you're better than everyone else and it sickens me."

Cuddy raised her brows, followed by a chuckle. If she felt uneasy by this conversation, she hid it well. This wasn't the best time to piss Cuddy off and Cameron did a great job doing so, intentionally or not.

"I know it does and you don't bother to hide it either. Every time I walk into a room, you roll your eyes. But you know what, Cameron, that's why I'm the administrator and you're the employee. Deal with it. Get out of my office while you still have that title."

Cuddy was being calm with her, surprisingly enough. It was a regular indoor voice she used, but it was full of the type of spitefulness that made anyone's skin crawl. Cameron gripped the back of the chair so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She didn't know what bothered her more—the fact that Cuddy completely blew her off when it came to being concerned about not taking the threat seriously, or that Cuddy doesn't respect her as an employee. Either way, Cameron felt her insides heat up and her head start to throb. This was a feeling unlike anything she's ever felt before.

"It's your fault that patient died," Cameron said, not thinking before she spoke.

That earned a look of shock from Cuddy. The reason Cuddy was being so short with everyone was because of the patient dying in her care. If Cameron wanted to poke a spot, that would be the spot to poke. It was a last resort and Cameron feeling the way she was feeling at the present moment didn't allow her to hold back.

Those words hurt Cuddy. They went straight to her heart as intended.

"Maybe next time you'll learn to let us do our job—"

"She was _my_ patient!" Cuddy yelled, slamming down her pen shooting up from the chair so fast that it nearly fell over.

"She was ours before you suddenly decided to play hero!" Cameron yelled back, voice equally loud. "I had everything under control and you had to waste our time by volunteering yourself to the case and waltzing into the ICU when we were doing a perfectly fine job without you!"

Cuddy's eyes shot daggers at Cameron. "Oh great, Cameron, just how long have you been waiting to get _that_ off your chest?" said sharply, venom spewing from her voice. The two had so much built up tension between them and it came out at the worst time.

"I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true," Cameron responded, sounding much calmer and more sincere, but meaning every word.

Cuddy leaned in on her desk, supporting herself with her arms. "Well then…since we're being so honest…there's something I've always wanted to get off my chest, too. Since I've already wasted enough time with you, excuse me for being so blunt. You're fired, Cameron. If you don't leave this hospital right now, I'll see to it that you're escorted out."

Cameron's tight muscles had retracted fast, causing her body to feel twice as heavy. She must've known that was going to happen. She pushed Cuddy on the worst of all days. She was asking for it.

"Fine," she said simply and spun on her heels to flee the office quickly. She didn't give it much thought in Cuddy's office about the impact those few little words brought, but when she was on the way to the locker room to get her things, heavy emotions swam over her. What the hell did she just do?

In a hallway where she was alone, she threw herself up against the wall and slid down into a seated position in tears. She threw her hands over her face to hide it. She didn't mean a word she said to Cuddy and a part of her wanted to go back and apologize, even if Cuddy's decision remained. It really wasn't about the job that made Cameron feel guilty. By nature, she was an easygoing girl with a heart for everyone, even a boss that butts in where she really should just butt out. If she must interfere, like today, pushing her aside was what made Cameron so angry. One moment, you're holding the paddles and working to restore a woman's life, and the next thing you know, you're being shoved back into a chair and almost losing your balance because you're crazy superior wants all the gold and glory for herself.

Cameron sighed and stood up after a small sobbing session. Cuddy's intentions were different, she told herself. Cuddy wasn't out for the glory. She never was.

It was too late to see reason now. Cameron picked herself up and headed the rest of the way to the locker room.

----------------------------

Cuddy remained busy the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, but with security breathing down her neck at all moments. She tried to rid them, but was overruled when they said her life was in balance and it was their job to see to it that she was okay. It was hard to ignore them, even though they agreed to keep out of her way by standing outside of her office rather than inside. Cuddy kept herself plenty busy with meetings and interviews with a new maternity department lead. When midnight rolled around, she was still there and working avidly, and alone, for security had left around ten. Assuring them she would be fine, she kicked them out so she could get her last minute work done and go home.

She still couldn't get the patient out of her mind. Maggie was her name. A good chunk of the reason why Cuddy stayed so late was because she wanted to study the file on Maggie and find out what went wrong. Why couldn't she House find a proper diagnosis for the woman? Why did she have to die so prematurely at the age of thirty-eight? House gave it his all to try to diagnose her. The more complicated the case was, the more it enthralled him, but this was just one case that left him hanging in the balance.

Cuddy couldn't figure it out and it only made her angrier. She let her anger take control of her actions and she took the file on Maggie and threw it like a Frisbee across the room. The loose papers flew out in midair and when the folder hit the wall at the other side of the room, there were no papers left inside.

Cuddy threw her hands over her face to cry. She cried in frustration. She cussed under her breath and pounded the surface of her desk. Today was not her day.

What distracted her was her doors being opened. She looked up quickly with a small gasp, tears still in her eyes.

"Just thought you'd like to know that the psycho has finally left the building. Security watched him bawl over his dead wife for twelve hours. Guess he finally got a headache and decided to leave." He limped to the center of the room and stopped there. A look of mystery was displayed his face. "Why are you crying now? I don't suppose you feel guilty for firing my most favorite employee."

Cuddy wiped her tears. House's eyes caught the trail of flown papers and traced them to the folder against the wall. "Hmm…I think some housecleaning is in order. No pun intended."

"House, what do you want?" she asked. "Can't I be miserable alone for a change?"

"Why be miserable alone when you have someone just as miserable to share it with? Why are you still here, anyway? It's past midnight. You should be at home in dreamland with visions of sugarplums dancing in your head."

"Good idea," Cuddy said, standing. "At least I know _you_ won't be there."

"Don't be so sure. I like spying outside your window when you have your little tiny t-shirts on, or the spaghetti strapped negligees with the lacey pink thong. Those are my favorite. How do you sleep in those thongs, anyway? Don't they, like, ride up…or something?"

"House, you come near my home tonight, I will fire you with no remorse, just like I did Cameron. That is a promise."

She grabbed her jacket and purse from the coat rack and left the office. House followed behind her. He knew she would never live up to her threat.

"You can't fire me! You've already proven that those around you die if you don't have me!"

Cuddy's heart sank. House was right. Maybe next time she should just stick to being the dean of medicine, rather than playing with an undiagnosed patient. And to make matters worse, she had just remembered that she parked in the garage today and cussed under her breath. She had to park there because when she came back to work from going home to change her clothes, a trash truck was parked in front of her spot. Because she didn't want to wait, she parked in the underground garage instead.

It wasn't recommended to go into the garage alone, especially at this time of the night. This wasn't the first time she's gone out there alone. Wilson gave her an earful after he found out about the last time she had done it.

"_Are you crazy?"_ he asked her the day after. _"Don't you know what happens to defenseless women in dark parking garages?"_

"_I can take care of myself,"_ Cuddy responded, sounding bored of the conversation. Plus, she was in a hurry that day. Documents needed her signature at the front desk in the clinic and the pharmacy had run into a problem with running out of a particular popular medication that everyone in the hospital managed to have needed at that given moment.

"_Look at it this way…if something does happen in the garage, she's not that far away from the hospital," _House threw in from behind, causing Cuddy to roll her eyes. She rolled them even now, remembering his brusque sense of wit as the elevator headed down to the garage level. It shouldn't surprise her. She never gets any serious conversations from him. He couldn't be serious if her life depended on it. If something were to ever happen to her in the garage, House would be the last person to come to her rescue, even if he showed up first. Knowing him, he'd take out a folding beach chair from the trunk of his car, pull out a couple beers, popcorn, and watch the scene unfold before him. He'd have a flag in the other hand, or his cane, waving it around and cheering the attacker on. Cuddy could see it now and it made her sick to her stomach how he could act that way.

Her car was on the end of one of the rows, no more than twenty feet ahead of her. Her car and only two others were left until the morning crew came around four-thirty. She knew she wasn't going to be a part of that team today. She vowed at least six hours of sleep when she got home.

When she reached into her purse to shuffle around for her keys, she was stopped by the call of her name from another row. Cuddy stopped and looked towards the voice that came from behind.

She noticed the face right away. It's a face she would never forget. It was Maggie's husband that came forth.

Her heart jumped up into her throat as her mind screamed at her to run. It screamed louder the closer he got to her. Her feet were nailed to the cement beneath her. When he left his wife's body, he must've come here. The entire time, he's been down in the garage waiting for her. Cuddy had an awful feeling that hunch was right.

"I've been waiting for you, Dr. Cuddy," he said, making her hunch true.

"What do you want?" she asked. The threat started becoming more and more conscious in her mind. This man was so loyal to his wife that someone had to pay for her death. He stuck to the someone that was responsible for her death.

"Isn't it obvious? I want my wife back," he said. "You killed her."

Cuddy felt her knees weaken. When Cameron talked about it with her earlier, and with Cuddy telling herself over and over again that she was responsible for his wife's death, it was nothing compared to what she felt when the husband himself so bluntly said that she killed her. It struck her where it counted.

Tears came to her eyes instantly. "I'm so sorry about your wife, Mr. Flannigan. I really am. I tried everything I could—"

"You didn't try hard enough!" he yelled, voice echoing in the garage. "Are you even qualified to do that sort of job? You're a disgrace to your staff, as well as yourself. How do you plan on living with yourself after today?"

Cuddy shook her head slowly and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm so sorry, I—"

"Do you know what my wife had to leave behind, Dr. Cuddy?" He exposed a picture of Maggie and a large family posed in front of a Christmas tree. Each and every one of the fifteen or so family members showed off their pearly whites as they smiled for the camera. So was Maggie. She stood in the middle of everyone, smiling wider with happiness. Cuddy's heart melted. "That's the family from just her side. The little girl beside her is our daughter. How the hell am I going to tell her that her mother is dead?"

Cuddy couldn't speak. Her voice was caught in her throat, preventing her from doing so.

"Who do you have to leave behind? Any family? Children? I assume you're not married. Would anyone miss you?"

Cuddy didn't give it much thought. She was more concerned that he was asking her this.

"Mr. Flannigan, I did not kill your wife," she said, trying to assure him, as well as assure herself in the process. "She had a disease that we couldn't diagnose in time."

"Isn't that your job?!" he yelled. "Words can't explain how much hurt you've placed in my heart, Dr. Cuddy. My wife was perfectly fine until she came here. She was only complaining of headaches when all of a sudden, she dies. Just…out of the blue, just like that. You're a murderer, Dr. Cuddy," he said emphatically.

Cuddy's mouth dropped. Her body grew hot. She's been called many things, but never a murderer. The name-call took her by surprise, as well as the violent look on the man's face.

"I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine," he said, stepping closer to her. That didn't startle her so much, but what widened her eyes was the extraction of a very sharp knife from the inside breast pocket of his jacket. He was going to kill her! He was crazy enough to do so!

That was it. Cuddy's feet took over from here, even though her legs felt as heavy as lead. Wishing she took the threat earlier seriously, she spun around and ran the rest of the way to her car, despite her weakened knees. No one had ever threatened her life before and it brought the tough dean of medicine to an immediate panic. The only sound that was heard in the garage was her heels pounding the pavement as she ran. Somewhere between the middle of the isle and the twenty feet back to the car, she lost her purse while frantically searching for her keys and unlocking her car with the remote on the way. She didn't even notice the loss of her purse, for the man was running after her with the knife still clearly visible in his hand. That's the only thing on her mind right now. At any given moment, she expected to feel the knife in her back, completely thinking he would throw it at her to get her to stop running. He was gaining on her because running in heels slowed her down tremendously. The thought of ditching them was on her mind, but kicking them off would require time and time is not what she had right now.

He was too close for her to make a clean getaway, or to even get into her car and lock the doors. The moment she reached her car and opened the door, he was right there. He grasped her by the wrist and spun her around to face him, making her cry out and drop her keys to the ground in the process. The grip on her wrist never loosened.

The look on the man's face twisted in rage. Cuddy's head grew cloudy with fear. She had no idea this type of fright actually existed inside her. Even though she wanted nothing more than to plead with him to see the wrong in this, words couldn't come to her while there was a knife inches away from her face.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, remaining fearless, even though that knife was dangerously close to her. She couldn't help but watch it carefully as he lowered it. One swift move forward and the blade would puncture her stomach. The thought of it made her feel ill.

"You're beautiful when you're scared," he said and reached up to cup her cheek. When she yanked her head back, it angered him. He then backhanded her so hard with his free hand that her body spun around and smacked into her car. Her lip split immediately and her cheek felt unbelievably hot and sore instantly from the slap. Cuddy never made an audible sound, except for a gasp when his hand came into contact with her face. Inside, though, she was screaming for help. God knows why this man was doing what he was doing. Cuddy also knew it was pointless to scream, even after he told her that she would be skewered if she did so. There was no one here to scream out to. Everyone was gone! Wilson was right. She was stupid to go in here alone. She should've asked House to come with her. At least the bastard would be helpful for something!

Tears fell down her cheeks after he yelled at her to turn around. When she didn't, he yanked her by the wrist again and forced her to do so. He got angrier when he saw the tear trails on her cheeks.

"What the fuck are you crying for?" he hissed angrily, jaw tightly clenched. "You're so tough upstairs, but down here, after one little slap and a look at a knife, you become a mama's girl. Guess that's one secret I didn't know about the great Dr. Cuddy."

"You can go to hell," Cuddy said venomously, causing yet another stinging slap to crush her cheekbone.

This time, she received one on both sides of her face, one after the other. This time, she cried out. No one had ever physically abused her before and not only did it hurt, but it caused her to come to terms with the fact that she was most definitely screwed and would not live to see tomorrow.

She was going to die.

He ripped her head back by grabbing a fistful of hair. Cuddy gasped loudly in fear.

"Don't ever speak to me that way again," he hissed into her ear.

"You don't want to do this," Cuddy said as he pinned her up against her car, back facing him. This was a last ditch effort to try to reason with him. "Please…don't become what you think I've become. That makes you no better than me."

To shut her up, he shoved her head forward so fast that her forehead hit the door of her car before she could stop it. The impact would leave a bruise. Cuddy whimpered. He kept his hand firmly at the back of her head so she couldn't pick it up.

"My reasons are also personal, Dr. Cuddy."

Just when Cuddy was about to reason with him further, she felt a ripping pain enter the small of her back. It was a pain unlike anything she had ever felt before and it took her breath away. The man had stabbed her. Not only did he do it once, but three times in different areas around the small of her back. Each stab sent a sheering sharp pain up and down her spine and fanned out to every tip of her body.

"Next time you'll learn to properly do your job!" he yelled into her ear and then released her. Cuddy fell to the ground, unable to stand any longer. Breathing was also starting to become an issue.

He continued to scream at her and hit her when she was down, but after awhile, Cuddy felt nothing. She was so numb from the wounds that no pain came from the impacts and sharp blows to the head. It got to the point where it only felt as if she were being casually bumped into or pushed slightly, even though the man was doing so much more than that. It's as if he were trying to break her metaphorical shell and had a very good reason for doing so, other than just his wife dying.

Blackness surrounded her clouded mind after that. The man's voice was slowly becoming faint and then inaudible altogether in her mind. The only thing she heard was her own voice calling out for help. Unfortunately, the voice was only in her head. She tried to reach out for the one person she wanted more than anything to come to her aid.

_House…help me …please…I'm so scared…_

And then everything fell quiet.

-------------------------

It was Foreman and Cameron that pounded on House's door at two in the morning to give him the news. They tried calling, but House either didn't want to answer his phone, or he didn't hear it ringing in the first place.

"This better be good," he grumbled, coming to the door in boxers and a plain black pocket t-shirt.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Cameron asked, close to the edge of wanting to strangle House.

"Because it's two in the morning and I was sleeping, duh," he said matter-of-factly, feigning exhaustion by half-closing his eyes. "What do you want? Didn't Cuddy fire you?"

"Cuddy's in critical condition, House. She was stabbed in the parking garage," Foreman said.

Suddenly, House didn't look so tired. His eyes snapped open and met both their worried stares. However, a frown took place across his face.

"Now, if you were me and I were you, I'd think you were just full of b/s, but because you're not me—"

"House, this isn't a joke. It's Maggie Flannigan's husband, the one who made the threat we overheard."

House still looked to be in doubt. It was in his nature to be a condescending jerk, but when it came to Cuddy, he was skeptical and showed it. It's as if he didn't know how to behave towards the fact that his boss was in critical condition! He knew Foreman and Cameron weren't bullshitting him because of the looks on their faces. Perhaps he was in denial. This sort of thing couldn't happen to Cuddy!

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go save her, otherwise I won't have a boss's ass to stare at."

He shut his door and left in what he was wearing. House obviously appeared that he didn't care about Cuddy, but the more he heard, the harder it struck him. It's a good thing he sat in the back seat in the dark while Foreman and Cameron were up front, because he discovered his eyes becoming more watery than normal. He had no control over it. Suddenly, he hated himself for being so weak.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me how it happened?" he asked, breaking the silence in the car. "I've never known Cuddy to be so pathetic and have her subject herself to being stabbed by some psycho husband of a dead lady," he said, figuring that if he said something bad, he could trick his body into thinking he didn't care and then maybe his eyes could stop watering.

He learned that she was stabbed three times and one of the times, the knife pierced one of her kidneys, placing her in critical condition with internal bleeding until it could be removed. It was so severe that it was possible she wouldn't survive the operation. That information shocked House's heart immensely.

"Oh come on, Cuddy's tough as nails. She'll get better tonight and be back to work tomorrow."

"Not this time, House," Foreman said, sounding disheartened. "Not this time."

One of the third shift hospital staff members found Cuddy at one-thirty in the morning, exactly an hour and twenty minutes after she was stabbed, making her chances of survival very slim. For an entire hour and twenty minutes, Cuddy lay unconscious in a pool of her own blood without the attacker anywhere in sight. The only reason she was found is because the owner of one of the two cars in the garage basement had to go out to her car to grab something and found her lying there. If she didn't get there when she did, the next person that would come through the garage was one of the morning crew at four-thirty. Cuddy would be long dead then. There would be no saving her.

------------------------

When they arrived at the OR of Princeton-Plainsboro, Cameron and Foreman met up with Chase in the small balcony over the room Cuddy was in. He was one of the doctors assigned to Cuddy. House saw him in scrubs and immediately rolled his eyes with a groan. "What the hell is this? A family reunion? It's just stab wounds for god sakes. Not everyone had to get out of their comfortable bed for lil ole Cuddy."

"Oh, so only you can?" Chase commented on House's boxers and t-shirt. "Looks like you were too worried about Cuddy to change your clothes. Seems to me you're just as worried as the rest of us."

"Just…shut up, both of you." Cameron didn't feel like hearing the backbiting between the two. She focused on Chase. "Is she okay?"

Chase opened his mouth to speak, but House cut him off. "What do you care? You hate her. That's why she fired you."

That's how it always appeared to be. Whenever Cuddy stuck around longer than she should, or took over a case for her own personal reasons, Cameron was the first to roll her eyes and burn up inside. And then there would be times where Cuddy seemed to pick on Cameron to do extra work when there was an entire roomful of people to do that same work for her. It was the little things that brought the hint that Cameron didn't like Cuddy, but never did she want to hope something bad would happen to her. And even though Cuddy did make it clear that she was fired, Cameron was still worried and wanted to be here for her.

Cameron sent House a glare. "House, for once, just shut up, alright. I don't even know why we told you if you're just going to be a condescending ass about it."

House didn't care at all with the way he was spoken to. He carried on just the same. "You did more than that! You actually had the nerve to—"

House was cut short when activity started building up loudly in the room beneath them where Cuddy was.

"Dr. Chase! We need you down here!" a voice said through an intercom system.

Chase immediately hurried away and headed downstairs. He squeezed past the door between machines and other OR personnel that didn't give him much room as quickly as he needed it. Cameron and Foreman hurried quickly to the window to see the action below. House, however, stood in the same spot by the door, watching the activity from afar. It wasn't by choice. He couldn't move his legs. He was frozen. He couldn't see what was happening inside the room from where he stood, but heard the activity and the anxious voices. He also swore he heard a machine about to flat line. That was enough for him. Cameron and Foreman looked in through the window intently. Both of them were so confound with the horror that went on in the room that neither of them noticed that House wasn't with them.

And then he was gone altogether.


	2. You Better Be Worth It

Cameron couldn't stand watching anymore. She had to assign herself to the operation, fired or not. Watching from the window up on the second level was too painful. She didn't know why she cared so much about what happens to Cuddy, but the pacifist in her said to forget about what happened in the past and concentrate on the present. Cameron wanted to be the one to save her. For whatever reason she felt this way, she did and made no more effort to dwell on why. There was no answer. If there was, she couldn't think of one, other than the fact that she was a doctor and this was her job.

She threw her scrubs on, her shoe coverings, mask, cap, and sterilized her hands before entering the room.

"Cameron, what are you—"

"What's her status?" Cameron interrupted Chase, hurrying into the room and taking her place in between one of the two of the surgeons and the anesthesiologist monitoring Cuddy at the head of the bed.

"We had to regulate her body temperature and stop the internal bleeding from the kidney before we could do anything," one of them said, the one that was stitching up the first stab wound just inches above the second one on the abdomen. "We also had to use the cardiopulmonary bypass pump because of the strain her heart was in due to the loss of blood."

Cameron looked over to Cuddy's head and noticed the tube that was inserted in through her mouth to the aorta to carry the oxygenated blood from the bypass machine into her body. She had no idea the attack was serious enough to have her heart and lungs involved.

"She also has a concussion from severe blows to the head with a hard object."

Cameron's stomach lurched. That bastard hit her? As if stabbing her wasn't enough.

"Is she going to need a transfusion?" Cameron asked, pushing the thoughts of someone hitting Cuddy from her mind. As long as it wasn't life threatening at the moment, she would worry later.

Cameron was almost positively knowing the right answer about the transfusion, for she saw the infusion pump on a pole beside Cuddy's bed. She just asked with the hopes of the infusion pump being there just to be there. She didn't want that to be one more problem added to Cuddy's list.

"She's getting one as we speak."

"There, now that you know the status, you can leave," Chase said rudely. "You're fired, remember?"

"Yes, so I've been told a million times," Cameron bit back. "I don't care, I'm helping anyway. Let's get the kidney out of her before it kills her."

They had Cuddy on her stomach throughout the procedure. Her first two wounds were the easiest to stitch up and forget about, for they didn't hit any main arteries or vital organs. The only drawback was the fact that the depth of each wound was six inches and would have to be closely watched afterward. It was a miracle that nothing was hit. If it weren't for finding her so late after it happened, her punctured kidney wouldn't have been a problem removing, but because it took so long, it became infected, causing Cuddy's entire body to suffer and lose massive amounts of blood.

Cameron removed the kidney moments later and also brought forth a huge quantity of dark red blood to the point where it was practically gushing. Cameron knew this wasn't good at all. The human body only carried twelve quarts of blood. Cuddy lost blood by the pint.

"She's losing way too much blood," Cameron said, voice heightened in panic. "If we don't stitch her up now, we're going to lose her."

"We can't stitch her up until the area is clean," Chase said. "Otherwise we'll have one big mess."

"There's already one big mess, Chase," Cameron said. "Do it."

"This isn't like putting alcohol on a scrape!" he said. "It takes time!"

Cameron's worry was quickly forming into panic. The heart-lung bypass machine already went crazy once because of the lack of blood being pumped through her system. The machine was brought in so her heart wouldn't be held solely responsible for the pumping of the blood. Now, it didn't even matter. Cameron knew if she didn't act now, there's a great chance Cuddy would die.

"I'll do it then." Chase watched her in surprise as she grabbed a mere wipe and used that to clean the small incision free of blood. The wipe was literally saturated the second it came into contact with the blood. Cameron's definition of cleaning after that was pushing the blood aside so the incision was exposed. She then looked up to Chase, whose eyes were still wide after that unorthodox procedure.

"Chase, wake up. Stitch her. _Now_."

Chase had never seen Cameron rule with an iron fist before, nor did she go out of the norm for the procedures. Cameron felt there was no other way and had to think fast.

Chase stitched up the wound successfully, despite the blood, making that the end of the process.

Cuddy was still unconscious, on her stomach. They took her off the heart-lung bypass machine and started up her heart with no problems. The sight was heartbreaking to Cameron. But Cuddy was able to pass the surgery, and the issue of the lack of blood, bringing huge waves of relief to her, Chase, and the few others who were there to witness their boss touch the first stage on the road to recovery three hours later, making it almost six in the morning. After a shot of bromelain to speed up wound healing and prevent from an inflammation that may occur, she was good to go.

When things calmed down and Cuddy was taken to the recovery wing, Cameron planned to go also, but stopped in the lounge for a moment to pick up a cappuccino while Cuddy got settled in. She's been awake for almost twenty-four hours and needed a boost of some kind. She pulled the tie out of her light brown hair and tossed her hair behind her shoulders as she walked. The walk there in the quiet hallway gave her time to think about the operation. There had been narrow escapes before with patients, but never anyone she knew. It was a close one and a feeling she never hoped to experience again.

She pushed the door open to the third floor lounge and was immediately greeted by clapping and whistling. House lead the cheer, which meant it was a mockery cheer rather than a sincere one. House, Chase, Foreman, and Wilson were in there, but only House's voice filled the room with shouts.

Cameron rolled her eyes and went to the coffee vending machine to get a cappuccino. Insensitive jerk.

"And the reward goes to Allison Cameron for saving our boss's ass. What would we do without Cuddy to make our lives a living—"

"Shut up, House," Cameron said, turning to him and forgetting momentarily about the cappuccino.

"It's like she has a thing for Cuddy the way she took over. You should've seen her in there," Chase said, sipping coffee of his own. "I've never seen her bend over backwards for any patient."

"I was doing my job."

"Since when does an immunologist take over a kidney operation?" House asked. "Didn't she fire you?"

Cameron got her cappuccino, rolling her eyes. "We've already established the fact that she has, but that's not the point right now. I'll leave after I know she's going to be okay."

"Why? You hate her and she hates you. You should hear half the stuff she says about you."

House sounded as if he was bragging. Cameron creased her brows into a small frown.

"Like what?" she asked. It shouldn't bother her the way it did.

"Nothing, Cameron," Wilson said, leaning up against the counter and crossing his ankles. "House is being affable, as always."

"Well, I don't think it's amusing," Cameron said angrily, flashing an individual heated look at the small lot. "In case you all haven't noticed, Cuddy almost died tonight and in the cruelest way possible. Are you in such denial that this is all a joke to you?"

"Cameron, you're overreacting," Foreman said. "Why don't you just go home and we'll call you if her condition changes, okay? You're exhausted. You need to sleep. I'll watch her."

He sounded sincere enough, but Cameron had no plans to leave this hospital until Cuddy woke up and told her to.

"I'm not going anywhere. Cuddy needs at least one person by her side. The four of you should be the ones to go home. You're not doing anything," she said scornfully before spinning on her heels to leave the room. The atmosphere and the lack of righteousness was making her sick.

"Hey, Cameron!" House called just before she ducked out of the room. "You going to dress and spoon-feed her, too? Let me know when so I can get the camera ready! You'll make hospital headlines."

Cameron scoffed and left the room as he faked holding a camera in his hands and taking pictures. Why was House being such a bastard about this? Cuddy could've died and all he does is make jokes! As far as anyone knows, House was closer to Cuddy than anyone in the hospital was. _HE_ should be the one to be at her bedside, not Cameron! He appeared like he gave a damn at first, but now he was acting colder than he normally would with just any patient in the hospital. Cameron had hoped it was his way of coping. Either way, his attitude bothered her.

Cameron brushed away a tear. Why is it that she was the only one who cared about Cuddy? Cuddy had an entire hospital full of people that admired and respected her, so why is Cameron the only one in the recovery room that gave a damn? It saddened her deeply to where it hurt just to walk. The muscles in her legs tightened, while the muscles in her arm felt heavy. This event was starting to toggle her entire body, even her joints. When she reached the recovery room, dizziness overwhelmed her. It wasn't severe enough to bring her down. It was just enough to let her know that it was there and could possibly get worse.

They now had Cuddy on her back and resting comfortably. IV drips were administered, as well as oxygen and various other machines that monitored her closely. It made Cameron's stomach turn. This many machines hooked up to one person meant that the hospital staff didn't want to stay by and watch them. They had machines to do that for them.

Cameron vowed she wouldn't leave Cuddy's side. She would be the one person that gave a damn.

This was the first time Cameron saw her face. Her heart sank. It appeared Cuddy was resting comfortably, but the way she got there wasn't pretty. She was still in the same unconscious state she was rushed into the OR with. Cuddy had no idea what had happened to her.

She had a small gash on her right cheek that looked as if made by a ring. Her lip was also split, but was healing nicely.

Cameron picked up the file at the end of the bed and flipped it open to the one and only page. Cuddy had a small concussion, but there wasn't anything to worry about. Her main reason for picking up the file was to read more about the concussion. She was hit on both sides of the head. What officially caused the concussion was her head hitting something hard. Cameron guessed it was the cement in the garage when she fell to the ground. There were no head wounds, which was a relief to her.

Cameron set the file back in the bin and, with rubbery legs, walked slowly up Cuddy's bedside. A tear fell from her eye when she grabbed her hand and gently rubbed her thumb across the roof. The warmth of her hand brought comfort to Cameron.

"I'm sorry," she said, lightly brushing the fingers from her other hand through Cuddy's hair. "I know you fired me, but I couldn't let it end like this. You were right," she added, followed by a weak chuckle, mostly made up of air. "You're always right."

Cameron was rambling. She's talked to unconscious patients before, specifically her husband. He came running through her mind suddenly. Maybe that was her reason for wanting to be so close to Cuddy. When her husband was in unconsciousness, there was nothing she could do except for talk to him in the hopes of him waking up. She couldn't save him. Cuddy, she could save, and she wasn't messing that up.

Cameron used her free hand to brush the messy locks of hair free from Cuddy's face. Whatever her reason for doing this was, she had no idea. By all rights, she should go on disliking her boss, just like she always has.

Just then, the door slid open and Wilson stuck his head in. "How is she?" he asked.

"Wow…when you're not with House, you actually sound like you care," Cameron muttered, not bothering to look back at him.

"Of course I care, Cameron," Wilson said, shocked, making that sound as if that was the stupidest thing she could ever accuse him of.

"That's not how it sounded in the lounge. Was that just a show for House to humor his idiocy?"

Wilson's hand came down lightly on her shoulder. He rubbed it gently. "Why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

"Why is everyone trying to get rid of me?" she asked, shaking his hand off her shoulder and stepping aside.

"If you leave, Cuddy won't be alone. If that's what's keeping you here, don't worry. I won't let anything happen to her."

Cameron shook her head and folded her arms. She planned to continue to be defiant. "I'm not leaving."

Wilson sighed at her stubbornness. He lowered his head. "This is about your husband, isn't it?" His voice came out low. "You figured you'd make it up to him by saving Cuddy."

"So what if it's personal. Hell, my motives are better than staying in the lounge all night while House makes jokes about Cuddy dying."

"You're not doing a hell of a lot by going on that reason alone. What is that going to accomplish? Cameron, every day you're faced with the sick and dying. You have every opportunity to sit by their bedside and save them. In fact, you have done that a few times and even saved lives. Don't you think you've already done the good deed? Why do you keep carrying the burden of your husband?"

"I can't stand to see Cuddy die!" Cameron said, raising her voice a little louder than expected. "Is that so wrong?!"

A tear instantly fell from her eye. Wilson's brows drew closer together. Cameron sniffled and swiped the tear away furiously, as if angry she allowed herself to cry in front of him.

"This isn't just about my husband, it never was!"

Wilson's eyes went wide when he saw Cameron take Cuddy's hand into hers and enlace their fingers. It really was personal! The idea of his boss dating anyone was odd to see, but the fact that she was going with another woman that so happened to be her employee was unthinkable!

"How…how long has this been going on between you two?" he asked, feeling as if he had just been run over by a bus. His assumptions on why Cameron was doing what she was doing was normal, but with this little detail left out, he was way off. How could this slip by him? Moreover, how could this slip by House!

"It hasn't," Cameron said, voice back to saddened normality. "Cuddy could never think of me like that, especially not after the argument."

"Oh wow…" Wilson ran a hand over his face with a sigh. It took a lot to comprehend this and to let it sink in that Cameron liked Cuddy in that way. After the blowout that they had this afternoon, he never would've guessed.

"Don't tell House. I could do without the ridicule."

Without another word, Wilson left quickly, as if to protest. Cameron didn't watch him leave. Instead, she focused on Cuddy's sleeping face. Telling Wilson was probably the stupidest thing she's ever done. Why couldn't she just say her reason for staying with Cuddy was so that she could make penitence with her husband? At least that reason would be safe! Did she really like Cuddy that much to be laughed at and humiliated? That's what will happen when House finds out. Wilson's probably on the way back to the lounge right now to tell everyone. Cameron couldn't be upset about it. She had the opportunity to keep it to herself, but let it slip for some reason or another.

Cameron suspected that any second, House and the team would bust through the doors to disdain her and laugh in her face, even more so than they already were with her taking over the operation and then refusing to leave Cuddy's side. Until they got here, if at all, she held Cuddy's hand and softly played with her hair. "You better be worth it," she murmured gently.


	3. Officially A Case

Cameron was almost sure she was dreaming. After a few quiet hours had passed and Cameron had fallen asleep in a nearby chair, Cuddy had woken her up by the calling of her name. Cuddy was already sitting up in bed and speaking perfectly clear as if nothing had happened! Cameron recovered from her dreamless sleep and jumped beside Cuddy in a flash.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked, shining a light into her eyes to see if her pupils were responsive.

"Of course I'm fine, Dr. Cameron," she said, a little on edge from the light in her eyes. Their eyes met as Cameron donned a stethoscope. Cuddy groaned and pressed her hand to the side of her head. "Except my head is killing me. Why am I here?"

"Heartbeat is a little quicker than normal, but I think you'll be okay. I can't believe you regained consciousness so quickly! Are you feeling any irregular pain or discomfort?" she asked, feeling her face to see if it felt hot.

Cuddy sighed angrily, fighting the urge to swipe Cameron's hands away. "No, of course not. What's going on? Didn't I fire you?"

"You almost died, that's what's going on," Cameron said, upset that Cuddy didn't remember what brought her here, but suddenly remembered firing her. "You were stabbed in the parking garage."

"Stabbed in the…No I wasn't!" Cuddy pushed the blankets off her and attempted to stand, but Cameron caught her just as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I have work to do. Sorry I can't stay and chat!"

Cameron held her back by putting her hands on her shoulders. It wasn't hard, but just enough to keep her seated.

"You just had surgery, Cuddy. Standing isn't recommended."

Cuddy looked at her as if Cameron were the clueless one. Cuddy looked at her arms, as well as down the front of her. "Where? I don't see anything. And I don't feel anything." Cuddy sounded angry and anxious at the same time.

"You had a kidney removed," Cameron enlightened painfully. It was hard on Cameron to repeat what happened to her. "It was punctured when you were stabbed by Mr. Flannigan late last night." Cameron's hand never removed from Cuddy's shoulder. She was no longer trying to hold her down. It was merely for comforting purposes, for Cuddy stopped trying to stand.

Cuddy's hand reached around to her lower back and froze when she felt the stab wound stitched up. "My god…" she breathed, agaped and astonished. Her frightened watery blues looked up at Cameron. "What…what happened to me?"

Cameron's heart sank as Cuddy's intensely sad eyes met hers, oblivious and frightened with what was going on. This was obviously new to Cuddy. She had never been hospitalized for anything, or ever so much as took Tylenol for a headache. That was true, but this was more of a flaw that would bring her down. What would everyone say if they knew their boss was attacked and only had one kidney? Cuddy knew what the reaction would be, for the present told her what would happen. Only Cameron was there with her and actually _sleeping_ in the chair so she wouldn't be alone. Where was everyone else? Where was House? Didn't he care? Didn't _someone_ care?

"You're going to be okay," Cameron said, struggling to hold back her tears and staying strong for Cuddy. Cuddy didn't bother to brush away Cameron's hand as it smoothed the hair at the top of her head. "I got you this far. There's no way I'm giving up now."

Suddenly, Cuddy's heart monitor beeped out of control and her breathing turned into gasping for every available breath. Cameron was frightened. She laid Cuddy back down and yelled out for help.

"My chest hurts." Cuddy's face twisted in pain and tried to calm herself so she could breathe easier.

"Cuddy, talk to me, okay? Come on…" Cameron grew worried when Cuddy's breathing would become shallow in parts and her eyes threatened to linger shut during blinking.

"It hurts…My chest…Cameron…" Cuddy's pain was intensifying. Her face portrayed it all.

"I think she's having a heart attack," Cameron told the ICU doctor, eyes wide.

Soon, the room was swimming with people trying to help Cuddy and Cameron was brushed to the side, much like before. They brought Cuddy up to a half seated position to ease the strain on her heart and propped her with pillows. Cuddy was complaining of dizziness in mumbles. Her skin became ashen and her lips turned an odd shade of blue. Her pulse was irregular also. Cameron, off to the side, watched the scene unfold in front of her as if she had never seen something like this before. She had patients that have had heart attacks, but never before was it Cuddy. It shocked her as it did everyone else from the ICU. Cuddy started to sweat as she extremely gasped for air.

"She's going into anaphylactic shock," one of the doctors said. "Her airway is constricting!"

Cuddy's face was in shock. They laid her back down and administered her with an injection of epinephrine before doing anything else.

"Blood pressure is falling and her breathing is impaired. We're losing her! Dr. Cuddy, stay with us…"

All this from a stab wound to a kidney that was successfully removed? Cuddy was fine when she woke up! Why this all of a sudden? Cameron's mind screamed at her the louder the room became. The activity in the room was too much for her and Cuddy going into anaphylactic shock for no apparent reason had only scared her even more. She couldn't sit back and do nothing!

"She needs more adrenaline!" Cameron ripped open a drawer so hard that it fell out onto the floor, bringing the contents with it. She snatched up a syringe from the floor and shoved her way in between two of the doctors trying to open Cuddy's airway and prevent her from going into v-fib.

"Dr. Cameron, if you give her more adrenaline, she could crash!" someone informed her from the other side of the bed. "The problem isn't solely anaphylactic shock!"

"I don't care. I'm not going to sit back and watch her die!" Cameron inserted the needle into the tube by Cuddy's arm, but before she could inject it, her arm was ripped back by a very firm grip of her wrist. She was pulled away from Cuddy, despite her struggles and yells to let her go. To her surprise, it was House that dragged her out of the room and into the hallway.

"What the hell are you doing, House?!" she yelled at her boss when she finally got her arm back.

"No, Cameron, what the hell are _you_ trying to do, kill her?!" House's voice echoed off the walls and earned the stares of people walking by.

"If she doesn't get that epinephrine, she'll die!"

"Yeah, and too much can stop her heart, is that what you want?! Epinephrine is fatal if not administered correctly, you know that! How much more of an idiot could you possibly be?!"

Cameron bit her lower lip and looked back into the room. They were in the middle of shocking Cuddy's heart back to life. Helplessly, Cameron placed both hands against the glass and watched from afar, not saying a word. Her eyes kept a fixed watch on the heart machine, praying silently that it would get off the flat line. If there was a god, he wouldn't allow someone as wonderful as Cuddy to die like this. It couldn't be her time!

She felt House's hand gently squeeze her shoulder, but didn't look over to him.

"Cuddy's a tough ole broad. It's not her time," he said, as if he were reading her mind. His voice was low and sincere, which wasn't something that happened a lot. "She'll die old and gray with three cats as companions. You're worrying for nothing."

House was right. After the third time they shocked Cuddy, the heart monitor showed her blood pressure and heart returning to normal and the quick-paced hustling activity in the room started to minimize. Cameron sighed loudly and heavily with relief, thanking god.

"You don't believe in god," House reminded, not moving from the spot near the window, even as the team exited.

"If Cuddy comes out of this okay, I will attend church every Sunday for the rest of my life," she said and went back into the room. House followed her, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Cuddy was resting comfortably again. Her face showed signs of ease. Her sudden condition worried Cameron. It wasn't a normal symptom!

"She had a heart attack, House," Cameron informed, almost inaudibly after everyone left. "There's no reason for it. She felt her wound and that was it. The next thing I know…she's…trying so hard to catch her breath." Cameron covered her mouth to stifle a sob.

"There could be many reasons for what happened."

"Like what?" she asked, glancing over at him. "The main cause for heart attacks are clots in a coronary artery." Her eyes went wide. "Do you think she's clotting? I gave her bromelain before bringing her up here to stop any forms of clotting from the transfusion."

"I don't know," he said honestly. "But I do know one thing…" He held up a familiar red chart. "Cuddy's mystery condition matches symptoms of Maggie Flannigan, which officially makes this a case."

He led the way back to his office.


	4. More Symptoms

Thanks everyone for the great reviews! Reviews help me update faster, so keep them coming! ;-) Enjoy!

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"I'm certainly not missing out on the chance to diagnose my boss," House said, hanging his cane up over the whiteboard and then erased the contents. He took a black expo marker and wrote Cuddy's name up on the top and Maggie Flannigan's beside it. "If she lives, I want her kissing my ass instead of me having to kiss her ass all the time."

"It's not _if_ she lives, House," Cameron said, flipping open Cuddy's chart on the table. "It's _when_ she lives, and I don't think she'll be kissing your ass."

House chuckled. "No, right, sorry, my bad, she'll be kissing _your_ ass. You two have been so cozy together, I figure the first thing that'll happen when she recovers is a romp in the sack between you two."

"House." Cameron's voice was low and strong. It almost sounded like a warning. To complete it was the narrowing of her eyes.

"Is he serious?" Foreman asked from the head of the table. Evidently, he was the only one who wasn't clued in.

"Of course he is. You remember how she was in the OR," Chase said. "I've never seen her so hot on a patient, especially a patient that fired her."

"Okay, seriously, is this necessary?" Cameron threw her hands in the air to shut everyone up. "Take your focus off me and put it towards Cuddy's condition. Do you think that's possible?" she asked sarcastically and swiped a folder down to Chase so fast that it nearly bounced off his stomach and into his lap.

"Wish I had a camera," House said before turning to the whiteboard and writing _heart attack_ on the left hand side.

"How do you expect to diagnose Cuddy when you couldn't diagnose Maggie?" Chase asked.

"How could they both have the same thing wrong with them? I don't get it," Cameron added.

"Maggie had surgery, just as Cuddy did, and afterwards, Maggie had a heart attack after three hours," House enlightened.

"Just like Cuddy. Why didn't we put these clues together before?"

Cameron glanced to Chase. "Because all of you were too busy laughing at me for taking an interest in Cuddy," she said, trying to sound as less spiteful as possible.

"What were they given after surgery?" House asked, interrupting an argument before it started.

"Maggie didn't have surgery," Foreman spoke up. "She was admitted because she was puking up blood and bleeding everywhere."

"Fine, but she did have the heart attack and then went into anaphylactic shock right afterwards," House recalled. "What was she given to ensure smooth diffusion of the blood?"

"Pyridoxine," Chase said, going along with it.

"Only Cuddy got bromelain, but for different reasons," Cameron added. "I don't really see how these cases are related."

House scribbled them on the board. "What other patients do you know that have heart attacks and then anaphylactic shock following it? Both had blood transfusions."

"So you think it's in the blood?" Foreman agreed with Cameron on not seeing a relationship between the two cases.

"Exactly. Why administer bromelain?"

"It was to prevent inflammation," Chase followed up.

"I know what it's supposed to do, Chase, but my question is why."

"Why what?" he asked.

"Why give it to her unless you were worried about inflammation."

"She just had a kidney removed for god sakes. I wanted to be on the safe side. And it wasn't just for inflammation. It can speed up wound healings and stop clotting."

"What else did you give her either before or after the surgery?"

"That's it," Foreman said.

"How do you know? You weren't even there." House scribbled on his whiteboard.

"Doesn't mean I don't know what happened."

Cameron slammed both hands down on the table. Everyone was getting off subject again.

"We need to do an MRI. Maybe it's a tumor," she suggested.

"Tumors don't cause heart attacks, Cameron," Chase said dryly.

"Maybe she has a tumor growing on the ventricles, brachial vein, or hell, even the aorta wall, I don't know." Cameron was getting frustrated. "All I know is that something caused her to have a heart attack and that something isn't something we did. The heart attack caused her to go into anaphylactic shock. Is it possible we can try to figure this out and be serious about it?"

"What do you mean _we_? This whole time, it's been all about _you_," Foreman said. "_You_ wanted to be Cuddy's hero. Why do you suddenly need the rest of us to work with you?"

"Because there are some things I can't do alone." Cameron's voice was surprisingly calm.

"And because it's your _job_," House stressed, getting the team's attention. "Can we focus now? You can fight later when Cuddy's here to stop you. Me, particularly, I miss the funbags."

"House." Cameron gave her warning voice again.

House wanted to say more, but he bit his tongue and turned to the whiteboard again. "So, anaphylactic shock, give me Cuddy's symptoms, Cameron."

"Blotchy skin, swelling of the throat—"

"Puffiness of the eyes? Anxiety?" House tossed out.

Cameron shook her head. "No puffiness that I saw and she did seem a little anxious when she woke up. She didn't know where she was and tried to get out of bed to leave, but I didn't think of that as a symptom."

"Guys, we're wasting our time here. We already know she went into anaphylactic shock. Aren't we trying to find out why and what caused it? I thought we were leaning towards bad blood or something."

House turned his head towards Chase and mocked him with a squeak-like voice.

Cameron sighed and threw her hands over her face. In all the times she wanted House to be professional about something, she wanted it more than ever now. Any other time, she could tolerate his behavior. Today, she was so tempted to take him by the collar of his shirt and physically knock some sense into him.

"She was scared. Maybe it wasn't a heart attack. Maybe her being so scared had an affect on her heart and caused it to feel overworked. Acute heart failure."

"Again, we're going back to blood clots. Acute heart failure doesn't happen because Cuddy doesn't know where she is," House said. "The main cause of acute heart failure is a clot in the coronary artery and it takes a while for it to build up. It doesn't happen overnight."

"But not always, House. Fluid buildup in the lungs can also cause it."

"But there's nothing wrong with her lungs, duh!" he said, scratching out acute heart failure on the whiteboard. "Anyone else have a better idea that doesn't involve something with the heart?"

"But that's where the focus is," Chase said, frowning a bit.

"No kidding, but I'm tired of hearing about it. Go do the MRI. Check for tumors and blood clots. Do a heart biopsy, too."

"No way!" Cameron was the first to speak up. She was appalled at the suggestion. "I'm not doing that unless it's absolutely necessary. That could kill her in this condition!"

House rolled his eyes and groaned. "For god sakes, Cameron, don't be such a drama queen. You'd educate the idea if you weren't sleeping with her. Besides, it's only a teeny tiny smidgen of the wall," he added in a sarcastic tone, dramatizing the image by holding his thumb and forefinger so that they almost connected.

"I don't care if it was microscopic. I'm still not doing it." Cameron folded her arms and stood her ground.

"Okay…how about this…do it or you're fired." House suddenly looked in thought. "Oh wait, you're already fired. Go home. We can do this without your whining and bitching. Foreman, Chase, go get me the biopsy."

To his surprise, neither of them moved.

"Did I stutter?"

"It's too dangerous," Foreman said. "We'll do the full body scan to check for tumors and clotting, but the biopsy won't happen. After a heart attack, the muscles are still constricted. We won't get the results we're looking for. And Cameron isn't going anywhere. She's the only one of us who seems to give a damn about what happens to Cuddy. Cuddy didn't try to save my life when I was dying. I'll be damned if I owe her anything."

He stood up and left without another word. House sighed dramatically heavily. "Well…one down, two to go. Chase…any regrets or can you actually do what I tell you without something getting in the way?"

Chase's shoulders went into a shrug. "I have nothing against Cuddy, except for the fact that Cameron likes her more than she likes me."

Cameron let out a groan that almost sounded more like a frustrated yell. "Oh my god! Enough! Who cares if I like Cuddy?! That shouldn't sway whether or not you want to save her life! Foreman's already gone because of some stupid reason and it's not fair! Cuddy's never done anything wrong and if something's not done, she could die!" Tears shot from Cameron's eyes. Her fists came into contact with the table out of frustration.

"And this is coming from someone who wanted to pump her up on epinephrine, knowing it could kill her!" House yelled back.

"I tried to save her! I wasn't thinking!"

Chase was surprised by her actions. His face showed it. She had never become this open and passionate about something. House, on the other hand, wasn't moved. In fact, he was disgusted.

"Wipe your tears and go home, Cameron. Go sob over a cup of hot tea and a naked picture of Cuddy," he said rancorously. "Chase, go find Foreman and get me that MRI."

House wasn't being a jerk to be a jerk. He meant what he said and that angered Cameron.

"You son of a bitch." Now that she didn't work for him anymore, it was easy to tell him off. This time, however, he really deserved it.

Chase, afraid of what was about to play out, took Cameron by the arm and attempted to get her out of the room. "He's only messing with you. Come on. Let's go do that MRI."

House feigned fear. He covered his gaped mouth and his eyes went wide. "Ooh no…is she going to hit me? Should I run and hide?"

Cameron gave into Chase tugging at her arm to leave the room, but not before she narrowed her eyes at House and told him to fuck off. How in the world could she have had a crush on this insensitive jerk? He's like this with every case, but on the case that so happened to be Cuddy, maybe he'd see it differently and not be such a bastard about his boss nearly dying. Back at the window, for a moment, it appeared as if he actually gave a damn. Guess that took a lot of energy, because he was right back to being himself.

"What went on in there?" Chase asked as the two walked to the ICU. "If you weren't fired, you would be now!"

"I'm not going to jump every time House says boo, fired or not." The both of them entered the elevator. "I'm also not leaving until I know Cuddy's going to be okay."

Chase opened his mouth to talk, but Cameron cut him off, "And I know what you're going to say," she said, holding up her hand. "I don't care if you agree or disagree with my motives, because the end result will be the same. Cuddy will be better and free to run everyone's lives here."

"Yeah…but do you really…you know…_like_ her?" he asked timidly, as if he were a schoolboy telling his crush that he liked her.

Cameron sighed. This subject was getting annoying. "If I tell you the truth, will you shut up about it?"

Chase nodded. "Promise."

The intent look on his face told Cameron that the suspense was killing him.

"Yes, I like her, okay? But it doesn't matter because she'll never feel the same way about me."

"How long have you liked her?" There were definite sounds of jealousy in his voice.

"Chase, you promised," Cameron said, sounding defeated. "I don't want to talk about it anymore!"

But Chase still wouldn't let it go. Even when they were doing Cuddy's MRI moments later, he was persistent.

"Have you ever had thoughts about—"

"Chase!" Cameron yelled in a voice just above indoor.

"I was only going to ask you if you still thought about me," he defended.

Cameron typed a few keys at the keyboard and stared at the screen in front of her. "That's not what you were asking," she said, clicking on an image close to Cuddy's heart.

"But it could've been."

Cameron enlarged the two ventricles and the main arteries responsible for the pumping of the blood. She couldn't find anything physical that would cause her to have a heart attack. Everything looked normal.

"No, I don't still think about you, okay?" She almost forgot that he said anything, for she was too immersed in searching every corner of Cuddy's heart and even lungs for an explanation. Not finding anything, she zoomed the scan out with a sigh. "There's nothing here."

"So maybe it wasn't a heart attack," Chase said.

"It was." Cameron already knew it was.

"We should check for clots. That's the main cause of a heart attack, right?"

Suddenly, Cuddy's heart machine went crazy and she could be heard coughing. Cameron was the first to fly out of the enclosed glass cubicle and run to her. She slid her out of the machine and called for help.

"She's seizing!" Cameron yelled out and pressed down hard on both Cuddy's arms to stabilize her. Her body shook violently, scaring Cameron to death.

Cuddy's eyes were wide open in horror. She was also coughing up blood. It wasn't just speckles, either. It looked like she was vomiting up blood, just like Maggie Flannigan was. The front of Cameron's lab coat wore most of it. That was the least of Cameron's concern. Cuddy wouldn't stop seizing. Cameron supported her head when help finally arrived. When Cuddy stopped seizing and fell into a deep sleep, Cameron was relieved. She also noticed something she hadn't seen before. Her eyes widened and fixated on Cuddy's forearm.

"Chase!" she called out and then told the ICU team to wait to lift her.

Chase was shocked to see what she found.

"How long has her arm been like that?" he asked, questioning about the dark bruising Cameron found.

"I just noticed. Look, it's on her leg, too." Cameron and Chase studied the non-patterned amorphous shaped bruise on their boss's right upper leg. That couldn't be good.

"Seizures, bruising…what more could happen to her? Do you think the concussion caused the seizure?"

Cameron's shoulders slowly went into a shrug. "I don't know. Her concussion wasn't that severe. We need to tell House. This is the same thing that happened to Maggie Flannigan." Cameron felt almost saddened she had to say those words. Maybe House will care a little more now that Cuddy had new symptoms for him to try to diagnose.


	5. You Better Not Die On Me

"Now she's starting to seize and bruises are appearing out of nowhere," Cameron told House when everyone was back in his office.

House, who was in the middle of twirling his cane, hummed in thought. "So…what does that tell us? I thought you said she wasn't moving around inside the machine."

"She wasn't," Cameron defended.

"Then how else do you explain the sudden bruising? Unless you don't know how to handle a patient and you're smacking her into the wall or something."

"That's not what happened!" Cameron said a little louder than expected, surprising herself, as well as everyone else in the room. However, she didn't stop there. "Cuddy didn't fall, bang into the side of the machine while seizing—"

"She could've," Chase said, meeting eye contact with Cameron. "When she was seizing, maybe she did hit the inside."

"She was strapped down, Chase."

"Well then the only other thing I can think of is clotting from the transfusion. We injected her with meds that would prevent clotting, but what if they didn't work? Think about it…the bruising, the seizure, the heart attack, it all fits!"

"So you're saying that she has a clot in an artery near her heart, her brain, and her arm and leg? All that from a transfusion?" Foreman piped up from the table. He was full of doubt, just as House was. "If she had a clot in her brain, we'd know about it!"

"How would you know, Foreman?" Cameron asked angrily. "I didn't see you with us while we were doing the MRI. I didn't see you when we noticed the bruises or back when she went into anaphylactic shock."

"Maybe not, but I still know what's going on," he said, coming to a stand. "Cameron, you need to stop letting your emotions run this case."

"Oh sure, right, go ahead and blame it on me. Let's waste more time while Cuddy lays dying in ICU because we don't know what's wrong with her. If things went my way—"

"If things went your way, Cuddy would be dead!" Foreman yelled to her, losing control himself.

Meanwhile, House stepped back, leaned against the counter, and popped some freshly made popcorn into his mouth, watching the interesting scene unfold in front of him. It was quite humorous to watch his team go at one another. Cameron went from rational, to angry, to downright pissed off and would most certainly pop Foreman in the jaw at any given moment. Yes, her emotions did get the better of her. House had never seen her like this and it was very exciting. When someone felt that passionate about something, they would be the ones to personally see justice.

Chase finally broke up the yelling pair after Foreman inadvertently said something about Cameron and Cuddy being lovers with rude implications. That inapt comment caused some eyes to widen, especially when Cameron didn't defend herself. She just turned her head, covered her face, and started to cry. She stormed out of the room before anything more was said. She couldn't stand being in there anymore.

"What a baby," House said, straightening himself up and limping back over to the whiteboard. "She can do the deed but can't take the heat. Anyway, back to the blood clots. Did you find any while doing the body scan?"

Chase shook his head. "We didn't have time. Cuddy started seizing so we had to stop. We saw the bruises, though. We should set her up for another body scan as soon as possible. If she got bruises that fast, by the night's out, her whole body could be black and blue. And she's coughing up blood again."

"Yeah, I saw that. Cameron was wearing most of it." House paused to let out a sigh. "There's nothing we can do now. We have to wait to do the body scan for at least a couple hours. Let's go get some lunch."

Just then, before anyone could agree or disagree on whether lunch was a good idea, Wilson practically barged into the office.

"What happened to Cameron?" he asked, breathing a little on the heavy side, as if he ran to House's office to ask him this.

"Why, what have you heard?" House asked passively.

"More like what have I seen. She practically ran me over in the hallway! Is Cuddy okay?"

"Of course she's not. Cuddy's dying. Cameron, however, there's no excuse for her for acting like a sobbing child, other than Foreman and his lighthearted comments. We're about to head out to lunch. Come back later."

"Wait, wait." Wilson held up his hands and everyone stopped moving. "What lighthearted comments?" He looked to Foreman first. "It must've been really good to get Cameron to cry her eyes out like that."

"Foreman called her a carpet muncher. Isn't that just delightful?" House asked sarcastically, bearing a wide smile. "I'm hungry. Catch ya later. Don't kill Cuddy 'til I get back."

House left his office, but had no intentions of getting lunch. Instead, he took the elevator to the third floor ICU and went to check on Cuddy. He wanted to be sure that no one saw him doing this. He had to uphold his honor of being the jackass that everyone has proven him to be, even when it came to Cuddy. Truth was, during this entire ordeal with Cuddy, he was on the edge of his seat, despite his sarcastic comments about her dying. In a way, what pushed him back was Cameron's devotion to the case and Cuddy herself. He knew Cuddy would never, ever support Cameron's feelings towards her. As far as anyone knew, Cuddy barely tolerated her. So why was Cameron acting this way? House usually always had all the answers. He didn't have an answer for this. To him, it appeared to be a one-sided love that was going to leave poor Cameron devastatingly heartbroken when Cuddy recovers and tells her ever so subtly that she could never feel that way for her and remind her once more that she fired her. Maybe Cameron only felt this way because it's someone she knew that was a patient. Before Cuddy was attacked, Cameron never mentioned liking Cuddy at all. In fact, just two days ago when Maggie Flannigan was admitted, Cameron was pissed that Cuddy would be joining the team and it wasn't a fake attitude to cover up liking her. Cameron's feelings were authentic. House was sure Cameron was behaving this way because she was afraid for Cuddy, despite holding her hand and smoothing her hair. Maybe he didn't have the answer for this because there was no answer to be found!

Nevertheless, there she was, in Cuddy's room, sitting in the nearby chair and holding her hand. She must've came up here after fleeing from the office. Cameron was everyone's friend. She was very compassionate so this behavior shouldn't startle House. Cameron would hug her worst enemy if they had something terminally wrong with them! It's just who she was. The world could use more Allison Cameron's in it.

House didn't go in the room. He watched from the window. Cuddy was steady now, but still unconscious. Everything appeared to be okay. He sighed inaudibly.

"You can make it, Cuddy. Dammit, you better not die on me," he murmured, barely moving his mouth.

After that, he was gone again.

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Sorry such a short chapter! The next chapter is looking reeeally good! :) Thanks for the great reviews everyone! They mean a lot! :)


	6. The Secret

**Sorry about the delay with updating, I had a small case of writer's block and have about five different other stories going at the same time! Thanks everyone who read and extra thanks to those who reviewed! Now, without further ado, enjoy!**

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After another body scan, they discovered clots in various places in Cuddy's upper right leg and immediately schedules her for surgery to remove them to prevent further damage. Three hours had passed after the two-hour surgery and Cameron was still with Cuddy. They've had no interruptions, making it peaceful. The only sounds that filled her ears were the repetitive steady beeping of the machines that monitored Cuddy.

Being awake for almost thirty-six hours was catching up with Cameron. Twice, she almost fell asleep with her head on the mattress. She must've fallen asleep for real this time, because a gentle grasp of her shoulder had woken her up.

"Hey. You fell asleep." It was Wilson that stood beside her.

Cameron inhaled sharply through her nose, followed by a small yawn. "Yeah, I guess I did," she said tiredly. "What's up?"

"I just came to tell you that they arrested Maggie Flannigan's husband about an hour ago. They found him at home at the table, literally swimming in pictures of his wife."

Cameron's heart jumped. She knew how it felt to lose a significant other. The feeling left a permanent weight on the heart, similar to what Cameron was feeling now. It hurt. She felt awful that he had to lose his wife, but then mixed feelings came up when she didn't care how he felt because of what he did to Cuddy.

Cameron spaced out in thought. She was unaware of it until Wilson spoke up, snapping her out of thought. "And I came to ask if you were going to be the one to tell her about her having the same symptoms as Maggie Flannigan."

Cameron's heart felt like a paperweight. "It might not mean anything," she said, going for Cuddy's hand again. "I don't want to get her worked up for nothing."

"Cameron, this isn't a time to be holding back. Cuddy needs to know."

"Why? Why does she? It's one less thing she has to worry about! I can't tell her…I just…I just can't."

A small pause filled the room. "I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine." Cameron's voice was a little on the weak side.

"You're not fine." He slid a chair up beside her and sat down.

Cameron sensed she had to further explain herself. "I just…haven't slept in a while. I…I'm overtired."

"No, it's not that. Your…I don't know how to say it…your…sudden interest in Cuddy is making it impossible for you to do your job properly."

Cameron frowned. "My "interest," or so you say, isn't affecting me. If anything, it's making me try harder."

Wilson gently shook his head. "You're trying too hard, and you're exhausted. Spacing out is a symptom of tiredness."

"I'm fine," Cameron repeated, sharper than expected, looking away from Wilson.

Wilson held up his hands in defense. "Okay, alright, I'll take your word for it, but if you think that you're the only one who cares about what happens to Cuddy, you're wrong."

Cameron chuckled, but no humor came from it. "Yeah, everyone's just scared stiff. Cuddy's been here for almost fifteen hours and no one's come to see her once, except for me." She turned her head to meet Wilson's eyes. "If I left now, she'll be alone. I can't leave her in this condition." Her voice was so full of emotion that it nearly broke during the last sentence.

Wilson could see her eyes water up. He bit his lower lip when she looked away.

"I don't expect you to understand. I don't expect anyone to understand," she murmured, staring downwards.

"Allison…" He lightly cupped her knee. He had never seen her so broken up before. "You're not alone in this. You're coping by standing by her side. Everyone else copes by watching from afar. Just because they're not in here now doesn't mean they don't care." Wilson was trying his hardest to be as gentle as possible. He didn't want to alarm her.

Cameron swallowed hard. A pause of at least ten seconds filled the room before she finally spoke.

"It doesn't matter," she said, voice barely audible. `

"What doesn't matter?" Wilson asked softly. "Talk to me."

"I don't want to talk."

"Come on—"

"No! Why are you doing this? Are you wired to House or something? Is he listening to this conversation and getting off on me being interested in Cuddy?"

"House has nothing to do with me being here," Wilson said honestly. "And somehow I have a feeling that you've gotten me mixed up with him," he added, voice tight.

Cameron sighed heavily and threw her hand over her face. "Wilson, I don't need to be comforted right now. It's not doing a hell of a lot for me."

Wilson nodded small. "Do you want me to leave?"

Cameron nodded and apologized. Wilson, understanding, stood up.

Cameron laid her head back down onto the mattress after Wilson was gone, glad to be alone with Cuddy again.

"At this point, it really doesn't matter what anyone thinks about me liking you. I'm going to take it while I can get it, because I know you'll never think of me that way." A tear fell from her eye. "Especially not after what happened yesterday, or in the past between us. I guess I tried to hide it by acting cold, but it didn't work. Now I'm just rambling," she said, sighing heavily. "I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes, but just to rest them. She didn't plan to fall asleep. It's a good thing she didn't, for she wouldn't have heard her name being whispered ever so lightly. It sounded like a little sigh. She would've missed it if it weren't for Cuddy's fingers twitching as well.

Cameron's head shot up. Cuddy's eyes were half opened and looking down at her. Cameron's eyes were as wide as saucers. She didn't know what shocked her more—the fact Cuddy was awake, or knowing that Cuddy could've heard everything she just said aloud.

"You're awake!" she said, stating the obvious. "Are you okay?"

Cameron felt her forehead and brushed the backs of her fingers lightly against Cuddy's cheeks to feel if she was hot.

"My throat is like cotton," Cuddy said, bringing up her own hand to feel her forehead. A small breath of a sigh escaped her slightly parted lips.

"Do you want some water?" Cameron asked, making a reach for a small cup and water pitcher at the end of the bed. When Cuddy nodded, Cameron filled the cup and handed it to her. She lifted Cuddy's head so she could drink. Cuddy thanked her before downing the contents.

"So…how…are you?" It was hard to maintain herself in front of Cuddy, especially now that she was awake. Also, little did she realize that she already asked her that question.

Cuddy still looked extremely tired and worn out from everything that had happened to her, but still looked flawless as far as Cameron was concerned. She was able to speak properly, but still kept it low. She could move her arms, legs, and probably her body if she wanted to.

Cuddy glanced over at the pole that had the IV and blood bags hanging from them after she called Cameron on asking her the same thing twice. "Morphine," she said and turned her head back over to face Cameron. "Why am I on that?"

"Because we found blood clots in your leg that were causing some bruising and had to remove them. We think it's from the transfusion."

"Blood clots?" Cuddy questioned, as if it were impossible for her to have such a thing. "No way could I…" She stopped short when she pushed the blankets away and saw her upper leg wrapped in gauze. The longer she stared at her leg, the closer she became to reducing to tears.

Cameron fixed the blankets after seeing that Cuddy couldn't handle it. Cuddy straightened her head back on the pillow so she stared at the ceiling. "Transfusions shouldn't make me clot," she said with defeat. "Who screwed up? Was House there, trying something new with me?"

Cameron shook her head. "It was Chase and me that did your surgery and Allyn and Welch that monitored you and administered the fluids. House made himself scarce throughout this ordeal, as well as everyone else," she muttered, remembering everyone's paucity to show any form of concern for their boss.

"So once again you're assigned to watch over me and deliver the news." Cuddy sounded neutral, not sarcastic, or sincere, making it easy for Cameron to continue.

"I wasn't assigned to do anything. If I wasn't here, no one would be. I wasn't going to leave you alone, no matter how much you hate me."

Cuddy didn't say anything. She moved only her eyes from staring at the ceiling to glancing over to Cameron.

"How's your chest? Are the muscles still tense?" Cameron asked, trying to avoid the awkwardness in the room when Cuddy didn't say anything.

Cuddy nodded. "A little. Kind of feels tight, but I'll live."

Cameron's heart jumped when Cuddy said that. A smile also formed on her face. "That's good."

Cuddy groaned and covered her face again. "God, I can't believe this happened to me. Did they find Mr. Flannigan?"

Cameron nodded. "A little while ago. He was at home."

Cuddy looked glum. "He didn't deserve to lose his wife. I should've tried harder."

"No one deserves to lose anyone, Cuddy. And it wasn't your fault. You tried the best you could."

Cameron's eyes started to tear up when two tears slid evenly down the sides of Cuddy's face. Cameron blinked them back before they could go anywhere.

"But I was paid back, wasn't I?"

Cameron took her hand into hers again, just like she had been doing while she was unconscious. Without thinking, she enlaced their fingers and held her hand tightly. "No one deserves what he put you through."

"Me? Looks like you've been through a hell of a lot worse than I have. When's the last time you slept?" Cuddy's voice was full of concern, like a mother concerned about her daughter.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not leaving until you're in the clear. I don't care if I don't leave until next month. Remember, I don't work here anymore. I have all the time in the world," she added, smiling small.

Cuddy looked almost disgusted with her answer, which was completely opposite from what facial expression Cameron was expecting to see. "God, Cameron, quit treating me like a charity case. We both know the only reason you're hovering over me is because I'm sick. Otherwise, you avoid me. When this is over, we'll never see each other again, so what difference does it make if you leave or stay?"

Cameron felt that unexplained twinge of anger electrify through her body again. "That's not the reason I'm here. I'm here because I care. I'm the only one who does! House hasn't been in here to see you, either has--"

"Go home, Cameron," she said, interrupting her.

"Why does everyone keep telling me to go home?!" Cameron cried unexpectedly and stepped back, throwing her arms out. "I'm not leaving! And my reasons for staying have nothing to do with my compassion for patients, or my husband dying! You're not a charity case!"

"Then why?" Cuddy asked, voice remaining low. She wasn't deterred by Cameron's outburst. "If your reasons aren't any of the above, why put yourself through this when you could be out doing more important things?"

Cameron's face softened. Without any of the above, it means her reasons must be personal. Cuddy backed her into a corner. She swallowed the painful lump in her throat as her fingers started to feel tingly.

"I don't know…I…" She was at a loss for words. Her mouth was open, but nothing but the sounds of uttering escaped. She couldn't remember the last time she was frozen this badly.

"Does this have anything to do with what you said after Wilson left?"

Now Cameron was having a hard time breathing. She was so desperate to flee the area and not look back. Fear struck her hard. Now Cuddy would not only hate her, which what has been going on all along, but now she would be disgusted with her. Cameron didn't want to be laughed at and picked on because of her crush on the older woman.

"I thought…you were sleeping…that's why I said that aloud," Cameron murmured, unable to keep eye contact. She looked past Cuddy for the most part if she wasn't staring at the ground. "I'm sorry…The reason I stayed is…because I…I like you. But it doesn't matter. Just forget I said anything," she said, speaking the last two sentences very quickly and turning her back to Cuddy. She couldn't bear to see her reaction.

"Is that why you roll your eyes at me and walk the other way when I'm coming down the hall is because you like me?" Cuddy asked, frowning.

Cameron's shoulders went into a small shrug. "I'm surprised you haven't caught on. This is why it was kept undisclosed. But it doesn't matter because you hate me and you'll continue to hate me—"

"Allison," Cuddy interrupted firmly. Their eyes met when Cameron turned to her. "Stop putting words in my mouth and covering up for everything you're saying with a but. I don't hate you, and I don't hate you for telling me how you feel."

"But you'll never feel the same way and that's why it's pointless to continue. Let's just forget about it, okay? Forget you heard anything. If it makes you feel better, just think of me as being here because I care for my patients."

Cuddy spaced off for a second, but then came back into reality with a deep sigh. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Cameron nodded. "Okay…"

"Back when I was at Michigan…I dated a woman. She was twenty and I was twenty-four, just a year away from graduating. It turns out she was second in her class when she graduated. She was very intelligent. I'll never forget her."

"So…why did you break up?" Cameron asked, sitting back in the chair and becoming intrigued by the story. She never, in a million years, figured Cuddy would date other women. As far as Cameron knew, Cuddy was as straight as they came.

"I was her guinea pig," Cuddy said painfully. "She wanted to find out what it was like to be with a woman, she used me, and then disposed of me. She decided she liked being with men more. After that…relationships have always been hard for me. I won't let myself get too attached because of Jenny."

"No, I don't blame you," Cameron said sympathetically and then unknowingly covered Cuddy's hand with her own. "I had no idea you went through something like that."

Cuddy chuckled weakly. "It's nothing compared to what you went through. We love, we lose, we get over it."

"But you didn't get over it, did you? You still like her."

Cuddy shook her head. "No. Jenny happened almost twenty years ago. Believe me, I've moved on."

Cameron wasn't aware of it right away, but it was Cuddy this time who took her hand and squeezed it gently. Her cheeks flushed. To cover it up, she continued talking.

"I bet she'd change her mind about you once she found out how successful you've become."

Cuddy shook her head. "No, she's probably married and successful herself." Cuddy paused, but then continued, as if the answers were beaten out of her. "Okay, so she's not married and the last time I checked, she was a professor at Harvard."

Cameron hummed. "Don't think about her a lot, huh?"

"I haven't checked up on her in years and what does it matter anyway if I did?"

Cameron's tone on her previous sentence must've been stronger than intended, for Cuddy's voice and mood changed at the drop of a pin. "It doesn't," Cameron said, getting defensive. "I don't care."

"Yeah, you certainly don't sound that way."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me? Are you trying to get me to hate you? In case you haven't noticed, I'm the only one on your side here. Do you see anyone else here with you?"

"I spend my entire life alone. I think I can handle this. I don't want you to be here, Cameron. Just go."

Cameron firmly stood her ground once again. A tear fell from her eye. "No, Lisa, I'm not going. I've been here this long, I'm not leaving now, I don't care what you do. It's not like you can fire me again."

Cameron folded her arms and raised her brows at Cuddy. Cuddy glanced up at her and scoffed. "You're an idiot," she murmured. Cuddy wasn't going to be the one winning here.

"Call me whatever you want, I'm still not going. You'll have to personally drag me out of here, but from the looks of that, you can't, so you're out of luck. Might as well get used to it." Cameron sat back in the seat and crossed her leg. Cuddy turned her head to the side and watched her. Cameron's always been the stubborn one who never took no for an answer and fought hard for what she believed in. At the same time, she was so caring and compassionate.

"I think I should have a choice on whether I choose to be alone or not."

"You spend your entire life alone, now shut up and deal with it."

Cameron didn't sound harsh. She spoke in a normal tone, but powerfully.

Cuddy laid her head back into the pillow with a sigh. "Maybe I don't want to be seen, have you ever thought of that?" She turned her head to Cameron, face pained. The hurt in her eyes was enough to bring anyone to tears. "Look at me…I don't want anyone to see me like this."

Cuddy started to cry. The strong Dean of Medicine and prevailing hospital administrator felt she had no more hope to hold onto and lost it right there, breaking Cameron's heart.

"I'm nothing anymore!"

Cameron didn't expect to hear this. Tears fell from her own eyes. "Don't say that, Lisa!" She tried so hard not to have her voice break. At least one of them had to remain strong. She reached out and took her hand, heart sinking. With her free hand, Cuddy covered her face. Her body lightly jerked as she wept.

"No one will look at me the same again. I have nothing left now."

Cameron didn't know why Cuddy was giving up, but did know that Cuddy's words pierced her heart strongly. Cameron brought herself closer to Cuddy and stood up from the chair.

"You have me," she said, lightly rubbing her thumb on the roof of Cuddy's hand that lay over her stomach. She placed her other hand at the top of Cuddy's head and lightly brushed the area with the palm.

Cuddy looked up into Cameron's blue-greys and let another tear slide from her eye and down the side of her face.

"Until you can't stand the sight of me, just like everyone else."

Cuddy saying these things only drew Cameron closer to her. Cameron's pulse beat louder as the feelings of love for Cuddy had entered her system. She didn't take a second thought that she would be shot down or rejected and feel ten times worse once her heart was broken. Cameron didn't let herself think about anything other than what happened in this moment. She needed to pull Cuddy back. She needed to let her feel she wasn't alone.

In spite of the events and everything falling down around Cuddy, Cameron lowered her head and kissed her lightly on the mouth, Cuddy's salty tears sliding in between their lips.

Cuddy kissed back lightly after the first stage of initial shock passed through and her eyes went from widening to closing. When they opened again, Cameron's eyes were inches away from hers.

Cuddy found it difficult to pull her eyes away from Cameron's.

"Why…did you do that?" Cuddy asked, barely moving her mouth.

"To prove to you that I'm not going anywhere." Her hot breath tickled Cuddy's lips. "I don't care what you say."

Cuddy sighed a small sigh and slowly blinked while turning her head away. "You were always the stubborn one. You don't have to take pity on me, Cameron."

"It's not pity." Cameron had a feeling they were starting back to square one. "I already told you what it was." She moved back a little ways from Cuddy, feeling the tension start to build again.

"And you think that just because I told you a story about a girlfriend I had at Michigan, you think I'd enjoy it if you kissed me?" Cuddy frowned, turning her head in Cameron's direction.

"I kissed you because I like you." Cameron's tone was angry.

Cuddy scoffed, lolling her head in the other direction, away from Cameron. "Don't be so dramatic. Just avoid me like everyone else does. It'll make my life easier."

A heavy frown wrinkled in on Cameron's face. How does Cuddy go from being weak and terrified that she has no one left because of the accident, to being arrogant and not caring about anything after one simple kiss?

Cameron slapped her hand over her face. "You know what…I don't want to hear this. I haven't slept properly in three days and I'm not in the frame of mind for your mood to be switching around. If you can't accept the fact that I like you, that's just too bad. Unlike you, I can't switch my feelings around to undo what I feel. I know you're in pain and your ego is shot, or so you think, but that doesn't give you the basis to shoot my feelings down and switch around my reasons for kissing you."

"You never liked me before." Cuddy looked over at her, turning onto her side as best she could. "In fact, if I remember right, you told Chase on several occasions that I was the biggest bitch you've ever worked for. Before or after you rolled your eyes every time I entered the same room you were in, I'm not quite sure, but the end result is the same. You didn't like me then so I don't know how you could like me now. The only motive I can come up with is that you feel sorry for me because that's what you do to patients that are weak or dying. If you want to stay by my bedside until you're blue in the face, thinking you have a brilliant undertaking, be my guest. I really don't care, but don't kiss me and say you like me, because we both know it's a lie."

"Then why did you kiss back?" Cameron asked, not leaving much room for a pause after Cuddy finished speaking.

Cuddy's face softened. "I didn't."

Cameron nodded. "Yes, you did. You held my hand and kissed back because it meant something."

"Oh wouldn't you like that to be the truth."

"If it didn't, you wouldn't have went through with it." Feeling frustrated, Cameron threw out her arms and groaned. "For crying out loud, Cuddy, just stop! Stop taking me for a ride. Just say what you feel!"

Tears welled up in Cuddy's eyes. "You want to know how I feel? The truth?"

"Yes!" Cameron said, fists clenching by her side.

Cuddy paused a moment and then sighed. "I don't want you here. I never did."

Cameron bit her lower lip. Tears fell easily from her eyes. "Why?" She couldn't help but ask.

Before Cuddy could answer back, her face went into shock and her breathing came in sharp gasps. Her heart monitor wailed out of control. Cameron laid Cuddy on her back and slipped an oxygen mask over her face while yelling out for help. Cuddy's body shook violently, scaring Cameron. Blood spat from Cuddy's mouth when she coughed a horrendous cough that would shatter anyone's lungs and windpipe.

Cuddy was seizing again. Cameron backed off when help came, covering her face with her hands. Cuddy was only getting worse. Every time she appeared as if she was getting a little better, she would seize and start bleeding again. If this activity continued, Cuddy was going to be brain dead. No patient has this many seizures without being properly diagnosed first. They were no closer to finding out what was wrong with Cuddy than they were when she was first admitted. It had to have been something that went on during surgery. Before all this, Cuddy was perfectly healthy with no medical history.

If the past two days were rough, it was only going to get worse from here.

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**AN: I thought I wanted a Cuddy x Cameron pairing, but now I'm not so sure! At this point, I think it could go either way. What do you think? Review and tell me! Your pairing might actually win!**


	7. Running Out Of Time

**I am most impressed with the reviews I got on the last chapter and I wanted to thank everyone for choosing Cuddy x Cameron because that's what I was leaning towards to continue with! The reason I asked is because I want to write about what people want to read. No sense in writing a fic if no one's gonna read it! I wanted opinions, so for those of you who chose Cuddy x Cameron, I hope you're satisfied with the remainder of the story! It's going to be a rocky road for them ;-)**

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"Cuddy doesn't want me in there anymore," Cameron told Wilson out in the hallway once Cuddy was under control moments later. She fell into a safe sleep after the seizure with no medical help. She wasn't unconscious, which was a good sign, although she was now officially being close monitored. It's sad that Cuddy's multiple seizures is what it took for someone to care.

"Did she tell you that?" Wilson asked. He was wondering why Cameron was standing outside the window rather than being in the room, sitting by Cuddy's side.

Cameron nodded somberly, followed by a humorless chuckle. "Who was I kidding? I knew Cuddy would never feel the way I feel about her."

"You told her how you felt?"

"I don't know…It sort of just…came out when she was feeling sorry for herself and stupid me, I wanted to make her feel she wasn't alone."

"Well, Cameron, don't you think it's a little premature to be taking her answer to heart? Look at her condition. Even someone strong like Cuddy is bound to lose it after being stabbed and then waking up to find out that no one knows what's wrong with her as she slowly begin to get worse. If you ask me, that's nothing compared to how angry I would be."

Cameron dropped her head and brought her hand to her face. "You don't get it. For a few good minutes, she was her old self again." She picked her head up to look at him. "We talked, laughed…well…sort of laughed, and she smiled, like this didn't bother her a bit. All of a sudden, she grows depressed and sullen, says she's not wanted, is worried what people think, and then…"

She looked away from Wilson to look through the window, back at Cuddy's sleeping form.

"And…?" Wilson prompted.

"I felt bad for her. I told her I liked her, and…I kissed her." Cameron spoke that last part so low that Wilson almost didn't hear her.

"Whoa…wait…you…kissed Cuddy?" This news was a shock to him, as well as it should be.

Cameron nodded. "I like her. I was drawn to her."

"You weren't drawn to her, you pitied her," Wilson said, voice hard.

Cameron gritted her teeth. She was sick of hearing that. "I didn't pity her," Cameron said, voice twice as hard.

"You just said you felt sorry for her!"

"But that's not the main reason I kissed her!"

Their voices got out of control. They were yelling at one another.

"Sorry," Cameron muttered, realizing she was getting loud, and looked away.

Wilson sighed. This was difficult for him to understand. Never did he think of Cameron liking Cuddy to the point where they would kiss. It was new to him and he wasn't sure how to react.

He brought his voice down considerably. "Look, Allison, I'm in no position to tell you what to feel and how to act, but it is a free country and I can offer advice. Cuddy is not mentally or physically stable to handle what you're throwing at her, which is probably why you got the reaction that you did. If you wait until she gets better—"

"Gets better?" Cameron echoed, meeting his eyes again. "At this rate, she'll be dead by tomorrow! If I didn't tell her how I felt now, I might've never gotten the chance!"

"And you think that because you told her, it'll give her a reason to hold on?" Wilson's voice was full of sarcasm. It wasn't like him.

Cameron sent a frown in his direction, realizing that. She predicted this sort of attitude from House, not Wilson. If anything, she expected him to understand this on some plausible level. Wilson always understood things, one way or another. Cameron was disappointed and it showed.

"You know what, just go. Go talk to House; I'm pretty sure you both have the same view on things right now. You can exchange humor stories about how Cuddy's coffin should look."

"That's not true," he said, alarmed at that remark.

"Then what is true, Wilson?!" Her voice raised again. "I'm all she has in the world right now. No one has come to see her, not a single person except for me. Her parents don't even care enough to end their vacation in Florida to come see her. Why can't someone just go in there and stand by her side, hold her hand, tell her that she'll be okay? She's going through this alone. How can she have so many employees that respect her and not show up just when she needs them the most?" Cameron placed her hands up against the glass that separated her from Cuddy.

"Maybe they're in denial," Wilson offered quietly.

Cameron said nothing, but her mind was screaming. She was so upset about Cuddy, about the kiss, about her reaction to the kiss, everything, to the point that she just wanted to close herself in a soundproof room and scream, venting her anger out on the four walls around her and then feel free to sob it all off afterward. Why couldn't Cuddy just accept her? Why did she have to say what she did?!

Wilson must've seen Cameron seconds away from screaming something, judging by her facial expressions and the clenching of her fists. He didn't let himself think about much after that. Slowly, he took her into his arms and gently shushed her. Cameron accepted. Instead of screaming, she cried lightly on his shoulder, getting some of her frustration out. Periodically, she would whisper her apologies to Wilson for acting so weak, but didn't pull back. Wilson wasn't in a hurry to release her, either. He owed it to her for being so heartless about the situation.

Their hug went on for a good minute before she pulled back, wiping the many tears from her face. Mixing her crying in with her not sleeping properly in days, her eyes looked swollen and red. Wilson knew he couldn't get her to sleep until Cuddy walked out of this hospital, fully cured, so he offered her the next best thing—a lunch break. Cameron was hesitant at first. She didn't want to leave Cuddy. Based on how her condition was fluctuating the way it has been, she didn't want to risk the chance of missing something vital, regardless if Cuddy made it abundantly clear that she didn't want Cameron around her.

When Wilson promised that she would be fine, and assured that someone would be looking in on her, Cameron caved. She wasn't really hungry, but a strong coffee or an espresso might help her stay awake.

Wilson placed his hand at the small of her back to help her along at first, for she was still a little hesitant and looked back through the glass at Cuddy, wondering if this was a good idea.

"It'll do you some good to get away," Wilson said, entering the elevator with her.

Cameron agreed tentatively. If only she knew what was waiting for her in the cafeteria, she never would've agreed to go.

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Cameron spotted House in the corner, talking to someone she hadn't recognized. Or maybe she did, but she looked away too fast to notice. He noticed her and immediately shouted across the room, "hey, Cameron! Finished cleaning the carpet yet?!"

Cameron wanted to run out. It didn't matter where, as long as she wasn't there. Wilson saw this and grabbed her hand to prevent any further urge to flee the area.

"Just ignore him." Even Wilson thought that House was being an incredibly obnoxious ass. If this was his way of coping, he did a really good job at it.

Cameron couldn't ignore it. The more she stayed there, the angrier she got. It felt like someone was squeezing her heart repetitively, not leaving her room to breathe. Wilson was alerted when her breathing became rigid.

"You okay, Allison?" Wilson was concerned when her hand started balling up under his.

When House's voice was heard once more from across the room, Cameron snapped. That's all she needed was that last part to get her motivated. She tore away from Wilson and marched straight over to House. He was in the process of coming to a stand when she reached him. A few people in the area gasped when Cameron shoved House backwards so hard that he lost his balance and fell into the chair, and then on his bad leg. He didn't have much time to stop her and when Cameron was angry, her strength intensified.

House muttered a curse word at Cameron before promptly rubbing his upper leg after the surprise wore off that he was actually pushed by her.

"You are a true, sincere ass, you son of a bitch!" Cameron yelled, not regretting the pain she caused him by falling. She also didn't care that everyone in the cafeteria was huddled around them, speaking amongst themselves. "Lisa lets you get away with everything under the sun and you're still a bastard!"

"Her choice, not mine." House reached for his vicodin, but just when he popped off the top, Cameron leaned down and swatted the bottle out of his hand, knocking the full bottle of pills everywhere.

"What the hell!" House obviously wasn't used to someone fighting back with him. "If you weren't fired, you'd be fired now."

"You better hope that she gets better, House, otherwise you'll be getting another Dean of Medicine, some middle-aged man who won't put up with your shit and before you know it, we'll be on the same boat, heading to the unemployment office. The only difference is - I'll be working a six-figure sum job. You will be making minimum wage because your sorry ass won't be hired anywhere else! If I were you, I would put a little more effort into making sure that she survives the night!"

This wasn't just about Cuddy, it was all the frustration and anger acquired from all the years that House made Cameron's life a living hell, and made everyone around him miserable. Cameron was a pacifist and kept her feelings inside, but one could only hold so much before they explode. All it took was a few foul things said about Cuddy to get Cameron to break. Whether she was wasting her breath or not, it felt great to vent at House.

Wilson was by her side in the next second, trying to coax her into calming down.

"What the fuck do you care what happens to me?" House asked, popping the vicodin that was on his lap into his mouth. "So righteous, all the way to the bitter end." He got to his feet somewhat easily after taking the vicodin. "Even if I don't seem to give a damn about what happens to Cuddy. But I have a feeling that's not the issue here. You want someone to share your pain with."

"I just want you to stop talking about her like she's never done a damn thing for you and maybe visit her once in a while! Even if I did want someone to share my pain with, I wouldn't want it to be you…you…" Cameron clenched her jaw tightly and pivoted quickly on her heels to flee the cafeteria before calling him another name. As heated as she was, the name wouldn't be nice.

Cameron wouldn't allow herself to cry, even though that's how she's been getting her feelings across to herself lately. She was so angry with House. In the end, he was still an ass.

Cameron didn't know what to do with herself. After the outburst in the cafeteria, which was so unlike her, she couldn't relax.

She went to the lounge to get the espresso that she missed out on in the cafeteria. There was no one in the lounge at this hour of the afternoon, which was good news for her. It gave her time to think. Maybe thinking was what caused all this in the first place. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to think. Once she started thinking, she would reach some sort of conclusion that would make her cry. Cameron didn't want to cry. She was sick of crying. What she wanted were concrete results saying Cuddy would make it.

What could they have possibly done wrong in surgery for her to be this way? It couldn't be an infection. The area was sterilized and no one came in from the outside during the middle of it.

Except for her.

Cameron's eyes went wide. She walked in during the surgery! But she was sterilized! There's no way she could've brought something in with her! She fled the room instantly.

--------------------------

"Allison, it's not an infection," Wilson said when she barged into his office to tell him about that. "It's not a virus, it's not anything, and it certainly wasn't anything you did. She's clotting and bleeding internally."

"Isn't clotting supposed to stop hemorrhaging?" Cameron asked helplessly, sitting in the chair in front of Wilson's desk.

"Yes," Wilson said on the exhale. "Unfortunately, we won't know anything until we get the lab results back from the body scan."

"Whatever is happening to her is a direct result of something that happened while she was in surgery. I checked her chart and I know from past experiences that she's been perfectly healthy her entire life. She's never even picked up a cigarette and barely touches liquor unless it's social. All of a sudden, she has conditions that can't be explained."

"How did the surgery go? Were there any complications?" Wilson didn't know. He wasn't there and hardly heard any feedback on it.

"No!" Cameron cried powerlessly. "It went fine! We removed the kidney, although there was irregular bleeding in her lower abdomen, but we fixed that! Her stitches are healing fine and her body's quickly adapting to having only one kidney, so I don't see where the excessive bleeding and clotting is coming from! We gave her a transfusion during the surgery and continued it yesterday when her heart wasn't pumping enough blood to make up for all that she's lost." Cameron paused and brushed the pad of her thumb on the surface under her eye to brush away a tear. "Wilson, if we don't fix this soon, she could die. I can't see that happening, fired or not."

Wilson nodded. He understood. He couldn't stand to lose Cuddy either, but took it a little easier than Cameron.

A small pause flowed through the room. Cameron slipped the fingernail belonging to her left thumb in between her teeth and bit down gently. She did that sometimes when she was nervous. It was a bad habit.

"Did Maggie Flannigan have the same symptoms?" Wilson asked.

Cameron nodded. "And she didn't live past day four. She went into cardiac arrest because of a blood clot to her heart and multiple seizures. Believe me, I haven't forgotten. At least Maggie had her husband here for her and House with the rest of us trying to come up with a diagnosis."

"And I take it you didn't find one."

"Even with Cuddy breathing down his neck, he didn't come up with one. In the end, we came up with reasons why she was hemorrhaging, but nothing fit. Do you think it's airborne?"

Wilson shook his head. "It's not; otherwise everyone would have it, not just Cuddy."

"Everyone else wore masks," Cameron added.

"Did you?" he countered.

Cameron paused before speaking. "No," she said in a low voice. "But maybe Cuddy's immune system was weakened with whatever virus spread through the air and mine wasn't. Maybe it was something that wasn't on her chart, Wilson."

Wilson's shoulders went into a small shrug. "I don't know, I'm not the one you should be bouncing ideas off of. I can't help you here."

"Okay, well, fine, what if I said it was cancerous? Would you look into it then?"

Wilson sighed. "It's not cancerous. It's not even a virus. What you need to do is talk to House. He may be a bastard during all of this, but he's going to be the one to save Cuddy's life."

Cameron chuckled. "Yeah, right, I can see that happening. He doesn't give a shit about her any more than the rest of you."

"He's been working on this since day one, Allison," Wilson said, sticking up for his friend for the first time since this started. "In his own, twisted sense of morality, he's diagnosing her."

"Actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words," Cameron muttered, folding her arms across her chest.

"Okay then, have you seen him leave this hospital once since Cuddy was admitted? What about Foreman and Chase?"

Cameron said nothing.

"While you've been in with Cuddy, they've been in his office, working around the clock to finish what they started with Maggie Flannigan and applying it to Cuddy." Wilson leaned back in the chair. "Go see for yourself," he said, motioning towards the door with his pen. "Instead of sitting by Cuddy's side being helpless, help cure her. You'll feel better in the end."

Wilson was right. Cameron's been harping on herself, feeling useless and helpless, but that was because she wasn't doing her job. She never did get anything accomplished just by sitting beside the person and holding their hand. This is why she became a fellow in diagnostic medicine. The best thing she could do right now was to help her colleagues find out what was wrong with Cuddy before it was too late.

-----------------------

Wilson was right. House, Foreman, and Chase were in the office, working avidly with charts on the table in front of them. House was at his whiteboard, but stopped in mid sentence when he saw Cameron through the glass, walking up to the door. Chase and Foreman glanced over to see what made him stop so fast.

"Why are you stopping?" Cameron asked, looking at the three. "Let's get to work."

"Whoa, not you, you're fired, remember? Two times over. That definitely means that you lost all rights to enter this office. Even if Cuddy hired you back, you'd still be fired."

"Why? Because I pushed you, or that I told you to your face on why you're being an ass throughout this ordeal? Whatever reason it was, you deserved it and I'm not leaving until Lisa gets better. Whatever she has, she got it while she was here."

House hummed. "You called her Lisa. Very dramatic. You on that first names thing again?"

"Who cares what I called her? Can't we just focus on her symptoms?!"

"We were, until you showed up," Chase mumbled, looking down at the chart in front of him.

Cameron's face portrayed definite anger. She turned her head to Chase. "Do you have a problem with me being here?" she asked.

"Cameron, we don't need you. Just go," Foreman said, speaking in such a serious tone that he definitely meant what he said.

Cameron had no idea why all of a sudden her colleagues started disliking her, but she wasn't letting it get to her this time. Cuddy meant more to her than getting the approval of two colleagues she could care less about right now. If it came to letting them bother her, or Cuddy getting better, she chose Cuddy and would face any other consequences later.

Instead of telling them she wasn't leaving, she showed them. She walked up to the whiteboard and ripped the marker out of House's hand.

"Hey! No fair!" he whined immaturely.

Cameron ignored him and drew a line under what he last wrote to start something else. "Cuddy is seizing and clotting. Based on her past medical history—"

"She doesn't have one," Foreman said. "We already know all this. We know what you know."

"We just don't know which one of us on the surgical team had a virus strong enough to attack Cuddy's immune system," Chase added.

"A virus doesn't cause blood clots. We need the damn MRI results."

"Transfusions cause blood clots and on some cases, internal bleeding."

"The seizures are causing the internal bleeding."

"No, the internal bleeding and the clotting are the reason for seizures."

"Possible blood clots in her brain are the result of the seizures."

"Enough!" House said. It wasn't loud, but enough to quiet everyone down. He didn't want to hear the word seizure again. It was getting repetitively annoying. "Shut up, all of you." He grabbed the marker from Cameron's hand. "You're all right, and wrong at the same time."

"So what's causing the clots? We're back to square one, right down to Maggie Flannigan. We can't diagnose her until we find out why she's clotting so badly," Cameron said, watching House write on the board. "And we don't have much time left," she added regretfully.

House stopped in mid writing and glanced over at her. She never moved from her spot beside the board.

"If you're going to stay here…do not stay _here_. Go sit or something."

The sides of Cameron's mouth twitched into a smile. Guess there's no hard feelings after all.

Cameron did as she was told, taking a seat at the end of the table. She donned her reading glasses and read Cuddy's chart over again, reading in between the lines this time. Maybe she could find something she missed.

Cameron also read over the surgery templates before and after Cuddy was admitted, as well as her results. They all know she was perfectly healthy before she was admitted, but what if she wasn't? What if Cuddy was hiding a medical issue, one that she paid a heavy price to keep off her records because if would cost her the position of being a Dean of Medicine? If there is such a thing. Everyone in House's office, as well as the rest of her staff, knew Cuddy loved her job of being a doctor. There's nothing she wouldn't do for the hospital. It is not premature to suggest that Cuddy might be hiding a medical problem.

"Well…like I said…everybody lies…even a hospital administrator," House said, tapping his cane on the ground.

"You really think after all this time and all these tests and theories that in the end it comes down to her lying to us?" Chase asked, bearing a frown. "I don't buy it. She would've told us if it meant we could save her life."

"Maybe not," Foreman said. "Maybe when it comes right down to it, Cuddy knows she can't be cured, so she's going out with a bang."

"Still, she wouldn't keep this a secret from me," Cameron said. "She would've told me."

"Why? Because you're banging her?" House shot out, probably not thinking before he spoke, much like always.

This deserved another angry look from Cameron. "No one is banging anyone, House, but I'm starting to think you're the one who wants to bang her, if anyone. All this talk about cleaning carpets and whatnot. I think that, and you being so cold and distant from her means that you have something going on with her and can't stand to see her in this condition. Wilson told me you haven't left this hospital once since she was admitted. If you didn't care, you would be home with your feet up and probably watching your latest episode of _Playboy Mansion_ or _The L Word _on your TiVo since there's no other patients to diagnose."

Chase and Foreman exchanged glances and then looked up to House. Either Cameron had just figured House out and was telling the truth, or she was very good at overturning the attention off herself and onto someone else.

"Oh…you're just too smart for your own good. Too bad you're _wrong_!" House said, not faltering from the comment. "I wouldn't touch Cuddy with a ten foot pole. Eleven foot maybe, but that's beside the point. The problem's in her blood, right? So…go check her blood for tainted markers and contagions."

Cameron never moved. "Do you think I'm stupid or something? That's the first thing I sent up to the lab to be checked."

"Oh, right, in all the spare time you had between holding Cuddy's hand and…holding Cuddy's hand. They won't let you in the lab now that you're _fired_," he said, continuing to rub that into her face as if it was going to make her leave. "Chase, Foreman, go check the blood packets."

Chase and Foreman stood half way, but stopped when Cameron started speaking.

"No one knows Cuddy fired me. It's not on paper and my ID card still works," Cameron said, unmoving. "I want to do it."

"You just want an excuse to go see Cuddy again."

Cameron let out a growl of frustration. "Okay, House, whatever, yeah I want to go draw her blood because I want to see her again. I don't care, use any excuse for me you want. I'm more concerned with saving her life right now than your continuous bantering." She looked to Foreman and Chase, who had just gotten to their feet. "I'll meet you in the lab."

--------------------

On the way back to Cuddy's room, a nurse had flagged Cameron down. A quick jolt flashed through Cameron's heart as she automatically thought it was something bad.

"Dr. Cameron, I have good news…I've been able to find Dr. Cuddy's healthcare proxy and she'll be in some time this afternoon. Dr. House was trying to reach her, but—"

"Whoa, hold on a minute, you've been looking for her proxy? She doesn't have one, at least none that I'm aware of. I've been taking care of her medical needs." Cameron stopped walking. She had wondered who that could be. Maybe her mother or her father, but Cameron was fairly sure she'd be informed someway or another if Cuddy's parents were coming in after leaving their vacation early. Was there a brother or sister she didn't know about?

The nurse frowned. "But…Dr. House had said that he informed you on it and to come to you if I had any questions."

Cameron shook her head. What's House up to now? "No, he never told me anything. Is there a problem with Dr. Cuddy to need the stand-in?" Now's where she grew nervous all over again.

"We have to take her off the anticoagulants, which we believe are doing more harm than good. They're supposed to prevent blood clots, but are causing the internal bleeding because her blood is so thin."

"Then take her off the anticoagulants and let the clotting stop the internal bleeding," Cameron said, making it sound so simple. Why would they need a stand-in for that? "We'll worry about the clots later; just administer her with anything to keep her blood thinned out to prevent further clotting."

The nurse never moved. "We can't."

Cameron's eyes widened. "Why not?"

"You're not her health proxy. We need her here, otherwise we can't do it."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "I'm a doctor; put me as her health proxy. I've spent more time in there with her than everyone here combined. I know what's best for Dr. Cuddy."

The nurse shook her head. "Sorry, Dr. Cameron, but it's protocol. We need her proxy to determine what's best for her."

Cameron did know the rules of the healthcare proxy and it was useless to fight it. But what were the rules when that person wasn't here to decide? Would they just let Cuddy die because this mysterious proxy won't answer her cell phone?

"Who the hell is this person?" Cameron asked. If it was a relative or someone close, Cameron planned to have it out with them when they got here. Cuddy had been in the hospital for over two days now and no one cared to show up after being notified.

The nurse opened up the folder she was holding and her eyes scanned half way down the page. "Oh…here it is…Jenny Levesque."

Cameron frowned. "Jenny Levesque? Who is—" She froze in mid sentence. Her mouth dropped. That was the name of Cuddy's ex girlfriend from college! It had to be her. Why the hell is she Cuddy's healthcare proxy?!

Cameron planned to fight this, whether it came down to her overruling Jenny as the proxy, or her being arrested and taken out of the hospital. Either way, she wasn't letting someone that broke Cuddy's heart to come back here to establish her fate.

"How was this proxy determined?" Cameron asked, worriedly.

"It was in her file from the last time Dr. Cuddy was in the hospital. I assumed it was a close friend by the way she was so concerned on the phone when I got a hold of her. She was shocked that no one cared to call her sooner. Don't worry, Dr. Cameron, she said she would be on the first flight here."

"Flight? Let me guess, from Michigan."

The nurse frowned. "Right…How did you—"

"Forget it. Just to let you know, I will fight this. I know what's best for Dr. Cuddy, she doesn't. The last time Jenny saw her was twenty years ago in med school. They haven't talked, either. That file needs to be updated."

The nurse never budged. "Sorry, Dr. Cameron. Ms. Levesque is on her way here. If she were unreachable, I'd be able to grant you the title."

Cameron had to bite her tongue, otherwise she'd be getting thrown out of there by saying the things she really wanted to say. If she were going to be thrown out of the hospital today, it would be fighting with Jenny, telling her how badly she hurt Cuddy.

As Cameron walked the rest of the way to Cuddy's room, her heart felt like it weighted a ton. Does Cuddy know her ex flame is coming here? Judging by Jenny's reaction, it's as if Cuddy had been in contact with her for the past twenty years. Just how in the dark is Cameron about their relationship?

She stopped at the door, looking in at Cuddy. Her legs didn't allow her to step in right away. Cuddy was still resting, unaware of what was going on. Tears came to Cameron's eyes. All it took were two days and an event for her to realize she was in love with Lisa Cuddy and now it might all be blown to pieces by her ex coming into town. Cuddy didn't say it, but Cameron knew she still thought about her ex, even though Jenny did what she did to her.

Jealousy pulsed through Cameron's veins after another wave of tears fell from her eyes. She swallowed hard.

Cameron prepared to fight. Jenny's not going to know what hit her.


	8. An Unwanted Visitor

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate those of you who are taking the time to do so! For those of you who are just reading, thanks for doing that also! Although I would really love to hear your thoughts! I can only improve something if I know what to improve on, so drop a line and tell me what you think :)**

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_Who am I kidding? I can't compete with an ex. Cuddy only held my hand because I was holding hers. She only kissed me back because I was kissing first. She didn't think of me as she thought about Jenny. I could never be another Jenny. _

Cameron was beating herself up. She was jealous because even though Jenny was only with Cuddy for experimentations, she was still with her. Cameron wasn't sure how far they got into the relationship, but at least some kissing was involved. Technically, that's further than Cameron got with her. And to top it off, Cuddy still liked Jenny! Even after all this time, she thought about her. She even looked her up after she graduated and kept tabs on her for years. Cameron remembered Cuddy saying that she was married. She still hoped that was the case. Unless she's seriously screwed up, which Cameron got the idea that she was, she wouldn't try to get back with Cuddy if she had a man at home, waiting for her. However, absence makes people do funny things. Cameron had a lot to worry about.

"You're supposed to be in the lab. Why are you back here?" Cameron had gone back to House's office after learning about Jenny being the proxy. He was on his computer, watching some video.

"Why didn't you tell me about Jenny?"

House didn't look at all daunted by that question. In fact, he just ignored it.

"Did you know that on _YouTube_, you can watch people play video games? Some guy beat _Yo! Noid_ in less than twenty minutes without dying once throughout the whole game! That's genius. And then there's this other guy that played _Dr. Mario_—"

"House, I'm not even in the vicinity of caring about that. Why didn't you tell me about Jenny?" she repeated, wanting an answer.

"Tell you that she's Cuddy's ex, or that she's her proxy? Either way, it doesn't matter, because…it's none of your business." House was right, it really wasn't any of her business, but Cameron felt it was. Him saying that only got her angrier. He exited _YouTube_ after saving the _Dr. Mario_ gameplay so he could watch it later.

"It is all my business! House, if Cuddy needed an emergency stand-in, she should get one that's available, not someone that's half way across the country!"

"Jealous?" House stood up from his desk and leaned on his cane. "You're wishing she chose you instead? On both accounts?" It was obvious that Cameron knew about Jenny being Cuddy's ex, because she didn't flip out when House mentioned it.

"I'm not jealous of Jenny," Cameron said, voice unyielding.

"Oh, yes you are." He pointed to her face. "Your cheeks are red with fury. I take it she told you the story about them in med school. You couldn't know about her any other way. Unless I was drunk or stoned and let something slip…"

"She broke her heart. She has no right to be coming back here to play around with her life."

House smirked. A small chuckle roused up in his throat. "Yeah…you're not jealous one bit. I can't wait until she gets here. I can see it now—a fight to the death, preferably in mud, and the winner gets to keep Cuddy. You're forgetting one thing though, Cameron…Cuddy doesn't want, or need your help. That's clear enough. You'll be doing it for nothing."

Cameron's heart fell into her stomach. The look on her face remained rigid, even though inside, she wanted to break down. "You don't know that. You weren't in there when we—"

"Why did Cuddy tell you about Jenny? She told you because she wanted to push you away."

"She told me that she broke her heart!" Cameron cried out. "Why would she say that if she didn't want me to feel for her and comfort her?!"

"Cuddy had twenty years to get over Jenny. I think the comforting option is outdated, unless Cuddy is seriously more pathetic than I thought. I hate to say this, but…" He sighed dramatically, followed by a small lovestruck moan, "they're still in love."

Cameron's body suddenly grew hot. Her pulse quickened. Was this the feeling of jealousy?

"If that's true, Jenny wouldn't be still living in Michigan. They would be together. And Cuddy wouldn't be in tears over her."

"Cuddy's internally screwed, literally, so of course she's got a few tears left to get out, but for a different reason. She doesn't want you to know that she's got the hots for her ex, so she masks it with feeling sorry about herself."

Cameron's eyes widened. "You just said ex."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did! Cuddy isn't with Jenny anymore," Cameron said, suddenly feeling weight lift off her shoulders. She thanked god for Freudian slips. "So why is she coming down?" She folded her arms and put her foot down. "Tell me the truth."

"Because she's…her proxy," House said simply and tried to leave his office. Cameron cut in front of him as he came out from around his desk.

"Why is she her proxy?"

Cameron didn't plan to lighten up on him. Even if she got a bullshit answer, at least she could go off that. In some ways, House always gave in and told the person what they wanted to hear. He could only beat around the bush for so long until someone relentless, such as Cameron, didn't give up until he caved. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't giving up.

"Because Cuddy said so." He tried to get around her, but in every direction he moved, she would move to block him.

"Why did Cuddy say so? House, you're not going to get rid of me until you tell me the truth, so you might as well stop trying to evade me. And if you try to push me out of the way, I'll gladly reenact the scene from the cafeteria and send you on your ass."

House looked shocked. "Wow…no modesty from you. Cuddy must mean a lot to you."

"Yes, she does," Cameron said, not faltering.

"Too bad the feelings will never be reciprocal. You're making a complete fool of yourself for nothing. Cuddy can't stand you any more than I can."

When House didn't want to tell the truth, he would resort to hurting the other party as a last ditch effort. He would reverse the situation and with any luck, piss them off, or hurt them emotionally to try to get rid of them and get out of telling them what they want to hear. He was a sure winner of this one! Cameron was a very emotional being. Her knack at confrontations was non-existent. House would never let himself surrender to her. He was much too proud for that.

"Why is she her proxy?" Cameron asked, willing herself not to be intimidated by House's cruel words. After being with him for so long, she didn't feel the need to fear him.

"Why are you so hard up on Cuddy? What is it with you and people that are damaged?"

"I like her, and it's not because of the attack. I like her a lot and I'm not going to have some bitch come to town and fuck it up on me. Lisa is dying and I don't want Jenny messing around with the medical regimen, doctor or not."

"So then go do whatever it is they don't want you to do. Take her off the anticoagulants if you think they're doing more harm than good."

"If I do that…she could clot in her brain and die."

"She's already clotting in the brain. That's why she's seizing."

"But you don't know that!" Cameron cried.

"How else do you explain the abnormal electrical excitation in her brain?!"

"She must have something there that we missed! Something—"

"Something like a clot!"

Cameron felt tears threaten her eyes again. If Cuddy had a clot in her brain and it was in a place they couldn't reach, she would die.

"She's not going to die," Cameron said, as if trying to reassure herself.

"You can think positive, I'll be realistic," House said and brushed past her easily that time. He didn't seem to care that Cuddy was dying and it hurt Cameron. He wouldn't stop until he found the correct diagnosis, so something was fueling him. Why go through all that trouble with finding out what was wrong with her just to sit on the sidelines with a beer and newspaper while they call time of death?

Cameron blinked back tears. She turned, just as House was halfway out the door.

"House," she called quietly to him.

He stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Did you call Jenny and tell her about Cuddy just to spite me?"

"Nope," House said, looking over his shoulder at her. "I called her because it was the only number in Cuddy's file. If you had such a big problem with that, you should've put yours in there instead."

House knew Jenny when all of them were at Michigan together. Jenny was the classy overbearing type. She was _Legally Blonde_ meets playboy model. Jenny was smart, funny, and exceptionally beautiful. She had dates left and right. One day, she grew tired of men and chose her closest friend to try a relationship on. Lisa Cuddy was the one. Jenny wasn't shy about being open about their relationship. She exhibit ed Lisa to everyone, as if she were proud of her. Their relationship was public, which is how House found out. Once he found out they were sleeping together, he was most definitely all over it, as nosey and persistent as he is. He was one of the few that knew. Jenny's friends knew and their opinions about it went both ways. Some told her to ditch Lisa and some told her to stick with her because Lisa would be making the good money in the long run. Jenny's friends were just like her, so most of them weren't very nice. When Jenny used Lisa up, she disposed of her. Lisa's friends didn't hold back an 'I told you so.' Neither of them liked Jenny. Everything had to go her way. But Lisa liked her. She liked her a lot and wanted to pursue a relationship to see how it would go. Jenny made her happy. But as most people knew, as well as Jenny, Jenny could get anyone she wanted. All she had to do was say the word and someone was filling the other side of her bed at night. She didn't seem to care that she tore Lisa's heart to pieces because that same night, she went back to her old boyfriend, saying Lisa was a stupid mistake.

House tried to pick up those broken pieces. It worked for a little while, for they started getting close in whatever spare time he had between going to school and his internship at the local hospital.

House never did officially get Lisa's mind off Jenny, but being together with her was how they got to know one another. He was still an arrogant ass back then and told her that she could always get wood instead of carpets. He wasn't talking about flooring either. That was how Lisa became immune to House's one-liners and his unconventional wittiness towards the world and the people in it. This would prepare her for the future when she hires him to work in her hospital. Of course, she didn't know it at the time. When she said goodbye to him when he left Michigan, she thought she would never see him again. It was all good. After Jenny, she didn't allow herself to think of anyone other than a friend, even though House was her godsend after Jenny tore her to shreds and she wanted to consider House on a higher up status. But in the end, it wasn't worth it. She would just be getting her heart broken again, because he was leaving for god knows where and phone numbers weren't even exchanged. Lisa was satisfied with that if House was.

The next day, she watched him get into a cab at the university from her dorm room window after they had loveless sex and that was it. She never saw him again until years later when he was fired from countless hospitals because of his attitude.

And here they are now, twenty years and many incidences later. House was still a jerk and Cuddy lay dying in her own hospital.

House mused over the past while sitting in the lounge's sofa and drinking coffee in a Styrofoam cup. He was regretting calling Jenny. He didn't like her back then and he knew she probably hasn't changed much, so she would still be the obnoxious bitch he once knew.

In a way, he had to thank her. If it weren't for her, he would've probably never gotten to know Cuddy as well as he did, preventing him from getting a job and running the place like he owned it. It was good to get Cuddy conditioned in the past, making it easier to control her in the future.

He checked the clock on the wall. It was going on three o'clock. Jenny should be here any moment.

He looked over just as the door was being open. Foreman stuck his head in. "Cuddy's test results are back."

Not wasting time, House grabbed his cane and walked out of the room.

-----------------------

"Where's Cameron?" Chase asked, knowing she would want to know the results also.

"Right here," she said, walking through the door. She was more nervous than all of them combined. If her face didn't show it, her eyes would.

Cameron held her breath. She wouldn't release it until the results were vocalized. House removed the scans and placed them up against the wall light that was already on in his office. All four of them immediately zoomed their eyes in on the scan. Cameron was the only one hesitant.

"My god…" Chase said first, unable to believe what he saw.

"She has blood clots everywhere!" Foreman said and then put up Maggie Flannigan's results beside hers to compare. They looked almost identical, except Maggie had one near her heart, blocking the main arteries there, bringing her to cardiac arrest and eventually killing her. She also had one in her brain. Cuddy, luckily, didn't have one in these critical spots yet. They were in areas that weren't damaging to her body, only creating bruising. There was a clot, however, getting dangerously close to her heart, but not close enough to bring Cuddy down right now. But if it wasn't dealt with now, in a few days, Cuddy will have the same results as Maggie Flannigan.

"So is the seizing the result of the clotting?" Cameron asked in a small voice.

"I think the seizures are the least of our worries right now," Foreman said. "She's starting to bleed into the area where we removed the clot from her leg." He showed where it was, circling it with his finger.

"The internal bleeding was supposed to be under control!" Cameron yelled. "I want her off the anticoagulants. They're thinning her blood too much."

"Cameron, if we take her off the anticoagulants, she'll clot faster. You know that."

"And if you don't take her off them, she'll bleed into every major organ and die faster," she argued.

"Too bad you don't have any influence on the decision," House said. "We definitely already talked about this."

"Fuck that," Cameron cussed, receiving wide eyes from Foreman and Chase. She spun quickly and walked towards the door. "Clotting give us time. Internal bleeding doesn't. She's coming off the anticoagulants. I'm not waiting for her ex to get her to make the wrong decision."

Foreman and Chase both looked to House at the same time, wearing frowns of question. Obviously, they didn't know about Jenny.

"What makes you think _I_ know anything?" House asked, keeping the look of dumbfound on his face. "Finish analyzing that blood."

He left, following Cameron down to the third floor ICU.

"I want Dr. Cuddy off the anticoagulants," Cameron demanded, coming up to the nurse's station.

The nurse in charge was on the phone, but Cameron could care less. "I'll do it myself if I have to."

"It's all taken care of, Dr. Cameron," the nurse informed. "Her proxy arrived twenty minutes ago."

Cameron's eyes widened. Jenny was here already?! Dammit!

"Leave them alone, Cameron!" House said, who had caught up to her. He stopped her before she could run to Cuddy's room. "Jenny did the right thing."

"Why didn't you tell me she was here?" Cameron hissed through a clenched jaw, angry she didn't get to her before she got to Cuddy.

"Because it has nothing to do with you," he retorted.

"It has everything to do with me!"

"Instead of obsessing over who's by her side, why don't you find out what's wrong with her before neither of you can sit by her side, unless it's her graveside," House spat callously.

House was right, but Cameron didn't want to see it. It's not so much she wanted to be by Cuddy's side, she didn't want Jenny in there, holding her hand and coaxing her back to the land of the conscious. Just thinking about that got her heated.

"The only one who's going to be killing her is Jenny."

"No," House said, stepping closer. "The one who's going to be killing her is you, because you're too busy being jealous to focus on anything else!" He pointed to her. "Your jealousy is clouding your better judgment, Cameron. If you spent half as much time on her condition rather than who was in her pants, she'd be cured by now!"

"And if you spent half as much time trying to figure out what's wrong with her rather than bothering me about it, she'd be cured also!" Cameron shot back. She wouldn't listen to reason. She spun around on her heels and walked quickly to Cuddy's room. There was no stopping her. House had a really big feeling there would be an argument of some kind in about three seconds. He limped quickly after Cameron as best he could.

Cuddy was sleeping. Cameron was thankful for that. But where was Jenny? Cameron looked back at House to ask him. When she did that, she looked past him and saw a very attractive blonde gabbing on a cell phone across the room, pacing back and forth, talking hurriedly. That must be her. The bottom of Cameron's stomach immediately fell.

"That's her," House confirmed, barely moving his mouth.

Jenny looked over and waved when she saw him. She ended the call right there and walked over to them, or rather, skipped over. She looked like she was dressed up for a day at a softball game, not visiting someone in the hospital.

When Jenny moved closer, Cameron found it harder to remove her eyes from her. Jenny looked like a Malibu Barbie under low-cut denim jeans that had were frayed at the legs, a short grey top with the name _Hurley_ stamped over some island-looking design on the chest, and a cherry red and purple plaid button-up shirt with white stripes practically draping off her shoulders. She had blonde Pamela Anderson _Baywatch_ hair underneath a baseball cap of some kind, sparkling green eyes, and a golden tan to boot. Either Michigan had great sun this year, or Jenny was physically blessed. Cameron was definitely jealous now to the point where she had a funny taste at the back of her throat. Jenny even had her bellybutton pierced. Three little stars were attached to tiny chains that were connected to the diamond in her navel, resembling somewhat of a charm bracelet.

"Greg, nice to see you again," she said, extending out her manicured hand out to shake his.

"He doesn't shake hands," Cameron abruptly said.

Jenny laughed, taking her hand back. "Right, I forgot. It's been forever. So how have you been?"

Cameron didn't know what upset her more, the fact that she was being ignored by the woman she currently despised, or the fact Cuddy wasn't the first thing out of her mouth. She didn't seem to care.

"He's miserable as always. Why are you Lisa's health proxy?" Cameron blurted getting to the point.

Jenny frowned at Cameron and looked a little surprised, as if she didn't realize she was standing there beside House the whole time. "Um…who are you?"

"That's Cameron, the new carpet cleaner," House said, almost resulting in a slap from Cameron. She would've if she wasn't focused on Jenny. Instead, she merely glared at her.

"Cameron?" Jenny asked, followed by a laugh. "That's a funny name for a girl. Shouldn't you get back to work then? Being a janitor must be tough."

Obviously Jenny didn't get the pun. She also didn't see Cameron wearing a lab coat with a name badge, signaling she wasn't of that job level, or at least the level that Jenny assumed she was, which was next to nothing.

"I'm not a janitor, I'm a doctor," Cameron said, voice hard. This woman graduated second in her class at Michigan? Either Cuddy was misinformed, or Jenny changed her major and became a fashion merchandiser instead. "Why are you Lisa's proxy?"

There were so many things Cameron wanted to say to Jenny, but this was at the top of the list.

Jenny scoffed. "Don't have a heart attack honey, I was just as surprised as you are. I didn't know she kept me on there from the last time."

"What happened last time?" Cameron asked, or rather, demanded. Her voice being tough wouldn't let up on Jenny. If there was something going on between them, she wanted to know. This would also help her know if Cuddy had a past medical condition, maybe one that would save her life.

"It's really not a big deal."

"It is to me, now what happened?!" Cameron yelled, about three seconds away from taking Jenny by her blonde hair and swinging her out of the hospital.

"Cuddy broke her ankle while skiing," House said. Both women looked to him. "She had an allergic reaction to the medicine and slipped into a coma. Jenny was the only one there who could talk for Cuddy, so they made her proxy. I guess it was never changed."

"So I get this phone call, like, out of nowhere from this hospital, because I still live in the same place I grew up in, saying that they needed me to make all the medical decisions for Lisa. How could I resist? I mean, I haven't heard from either of you in years. You'd think I did something wrong to her."

Cameron bit her tongue. It took so much willpower not to punch this bitch in the jaw, messing up her plastic surgery.

Jenny shrugged. "Oh well…At least I'm a doctor now, so I'll be able to make her better," she said, followed by a smile.

"You're a doctor?" Cameron asked, surprised.

Jenny frowned at Cameron. "Yeah, I just said that I was, duh. Excuse me." She pushed her way past Cameron and into Cuddy's room.

Cameron unballed her fist. Her fingers hurt, due to being clenched so tightly.

"Relax, Cameron," House said in a low voice, placing a hand over her shoulder. "Cuddy will throw her out before any of us do."

"Not if she's still in love with her," Cameron muttered, feeling tears build up in her eyes again.

House left after that. Cameron stayed by the opened door.

Jenny sat in the chair that Cameron preferred and stayed there for a moment before lightly stroking Cuddy's arm to wake her.

"Lisa…" Jenny said, covering her hand with hers.

"Allison?" Cuddy whispered, barely moving her mouth.

Cameron's heart jumped. Cuddy's voice was a whisper, but she heard her name as clear as day, making her step inside the room.

"No, it's Jenny," she said, not caring that she said another name, "from Michigan."

Cuddy's eyes opened immediately after that. She was still tired and it showed, but hearing Jenny and feeling her hand on hers forced her to become alert faster.

Cameron brought her hand up to her mouth and allowed a tear to fall from her eye.

"Jenny? My god, what are you doing here?" Cuddy asked, blinking to clear her vision.

That was an appropriate question.

"I'm your proxy, remember?" Jenny asked, flashing Cuddy one of her bright, knee trembling grins.

"Twenty years ago," Cuddy said, rubbing the exhaustion from her face.

"You never bothered to change it. But that's okay, because I'm thrilled to see you again. We have so much to catch up on."

Cuddy didn't look in the mood, nor stable enough to hold a conversation to anyone, let alone someone from the past she dated. If Jenny were a real doctor, she would've seen that. She wouldn't be talking in her peppy party girl voice either. Cameron had a problem with that. Jenny didn't even ask Cuddy if she was okay. She immediately went to wanting to get Cuddy caught up on herself and what she had been doing for the past twenty years in Michigan, followed by a failed marriage. It was all about her. Cameron wasn't surprised. What surprised her was how the hell someone like Cuddy could've fallen for Jenny. They weren't even in the same area as having something in common as basis for a relationship.

Jenny glanced over at Cameron, who stood by the door, watching them.

"We don't need a chaperone," Jenny said coldly.

Cuddy looked over to the door, noticing Cameron there for the first time in this conversation. She didn't know she was there. Her eyes softened. It would appear that she didn't want Cameron to leave. Her eyes said it all. However, Cameron ducked out slowly, closing the slider door behind her.


	9. Bye Bye Barbie

**In this chapter, we finally find out what's wrong with Cuddy! The wait is over!**

**Thanks everyone for the reviews! I love you all! :)**

------------------------

"I said I don't want to talk about her," Cameron snipped, looking into the microscope for abnormal blood markers in Cuddy's blood after running it through a machine.

Chase and Foreman were curious about Jenny. Anyone who got Cameron this fired up was definitely worth knowing about.

"Is she hot?" Chase asked.

"She's a forty year old Barbie doll, Chase; does that clear it up for you?" Cameron snapped, glancing over to Chase before going back to the microscope.

"Wow. That's definitely worth checking out," he joked, exchanging sly smirks with Foreman, who was thinking the same thing.

Cameron sighed angrily.

"Relax, Cameron, we're only trying to get you to lighten up."

"By saying my competition is worth checking out? Yeah, that'll get me to ease right up."

Chase rolled his eyes. "Come on, you can't really be serious about Cuddy. You hate her. You try to avoid her worse than House does. I was even with you a couple times when we had to go back the opposite way because she was coming down the hall."

"People change," Cameron said simply.

"Not like that they don't."

Cameron moved her head back and looked over at Chase, who was just about nearly fuming in the face.

"I don't know what I have with Cuddy, but I'm certainly not going to let it go without kicking that blonde bitch's ass out the door."

"If Cuddy can have someone that hot, why would she want you?" Chase muttered before leaving the lab.

"Because looks aren't everything," Cameron said audibly to herself, coming to a stand. "Cuddy's blood is clean. There's no tainted markers in the packets that were given to her either."

"So it's not her blood that's doing this then," Foreman said. "But it still has to be associated with the blood if it's making her clot."

"Her and Maggie Flannigan can't have the same exact thing wrong with them when everyone else was exposed to both of them. It would have to be genetic in both and there's no way. It can't be airborne because everyone in this hospital would be sick. Something happened during the surgery, I'm almost sure of it."

"Cameron, Maggie didn't have surgery. All she had were blood transfusions. That's the only thing connecting them."

"But what if they were both brought on by different triggers? What if it is a virus that attacks the blood, causing it to clot and somehow both Maggie and Cuddy got it? We should try to clean her blood and start over with the analysis."

"Cameron, I don't—"

"It's the only option there is now, Foreman, alright? I don't see you coming up with any ideas."

Foreman frowned. "I was…only going to say that I don't think Cuddy will want to go through with that."

"She better," Cameron said, taking off the lab coat and hanging it on the hook before leaving. "It might be what saves her life."

-------------------

"I'm not consenting to that! It sounds gross," Jenny said when Cameron told her and a somewhat conscious Cuddy about the procedure. Cuddy already knew how that worked so she didn't have to kill herself trying to make herself listen.

"Are you really a doctor?" Cameron had to ask that. Jenny was so dense that it would appear to Cameron that the only time she was ever a doctor was in preschool in the dramatic play area. "Or were you just bored one day and decided to ask daddy to spend some of his millions to send you to med school?"

"Cameron, stop," Cuddy murmured. Her head was already throbbing and she didn't need a fight to break out in the middle of her room.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, it was only for a year. I never graduated. I lied. That stuff was too hard and I ditched it after Lisa graduated. The guys love it when I say I'm a doctor, though. It always got Greg going."

"Anything with boobs and a tight ass gets him going, so don't think it's all about you, honey." Cameron handed her a clipboard. "Sign at the bottom."

Jenny never moved. The grimace on her face returned. "I'm not putting Lisa through that!" She shuttered. "No way! Cleaning blood? Ugh!"

"It could save her life, if you care," Cameron said, malice filling the air.

Jenny put her hands up, as if to surrender, but shook her head. "Absolutely not. I have to call my masseuse to cancel my appointment for this afternoon, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, and that includes forging my signature, because I will so totally sue you, Camden."

Cameron put on a grimace of her own when Jenny stormed out of the room. She vowed mentally to kill House for bringing her here. Cameron can't remember anyone that stressed her out this much. Not even House did and he was the worst!

"Cameron." Cameron looked over to Cuddy, who managed to pull herself to a seated position in the middle of Cameron trying to get Jenny to sign the form. Cameron forgot about Jenny for the moment and focused on Cuddy. She laid her head back into the pillow with a sigh. It took a lot of work to get herself into this position and then plump her own pillows on top of that.

"Are you okay to be sitting up?" Cameron asked in concern, placing her hand over Cuddy's forehead to check to see if she was burning up.

"I'm tired of laying down. My back is starting to hurt because of it. Why is Jenny here?" Cuddy's voice was raspy, but completely articulate. She didn't stutter or slur, which was a good sign. She just sounded tired.

"Talk to House about that one."

"It's really awkward and she's giving me a headache talking about how her ex girlfriend left her for a poodle. I don't want her here."

"That makes two of us," Cameron said, checking her IV fluids and making sure everything was functioning properly. She reached in to check Cuddy's pulse next. It was normal. "Didn't you tell me she was a professor at Harvard or something?"

"That's what I've heard from old friends, but I guess they lied."

"Guess so," Cameron said, checking Cuddy's heartbeat next, donning her stethoscope.

"So I presume House didn't find out what's wrong with me yet."

Cameron didn't want to answer that, so she evaded it. She finished checking her heart and wrapped the stethoscope around the back of her neck. "We think the problem's in the blood, which is why we want to clean it and test it before the clotting gets too out of hand."

Cuddy lowered her eyes. "Clotting…just like Maggie Flannigan. I know I've been seizing…Is there a clot in my brain?"

Cuddy sounded so saddened that it made Cameron want to embrace her and reassure her that everything was going to be okay, just to give her even a bit of hope to grasp in all of this.

"Not yet…" Cameron said in the smallest voice she had. "We're hoping it doesn't get to that."

She rested her hand on Cuddy's shoulder and looked into her eyes. She saw fear and panic.

"I'm doing everything I can," Cameron added, tears building up in her eyes. After seeing Cuddy so distraught, it was hard not to cry.

"Why?" Cuddy asked. "I'm still convinced it's pity that's motivating you."

"When you get better, I assure you my attitude towards you won't change from what it is now. I don't pity you. Well, I do now that Jenny's here," Cameron said, trying to make some light humor.

Cuddy chuckled briefly. "Thanks." She rubbed her face. "I could use the company though. I know you haven't been here with me."

"When you said you didn't want me in here…I realized I wasn't doing much good anyway. I put myself to use trying to diagnose you instead."

Cuddy swallowed hard, but ended up coughing suddenly. Cameron was alerted at the urgency of the cough. "Do you want some water?" she asked.

Cuddy nodded. Cameron poured a small cup and handed it to her. Cuddy drank it with no problems. It did the trick. She sighed afterwards and closed her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked, reaching for her hand indistinctively. She caught herself doing it and hesitated, only resting her hand lightly on the surface of Cuddy's hand that rested over her stomach. Cuddy sighed when she felt the warm contact of Cameron's hand.

"I could feel you when I was in the coma," Cuddy said, opening her eyes and glancing up to Cameron. "You always held my hand. I tried to squeeze back, but I couldn't move."

Cameron chuckled on the exhale, making it sound like air.

"And you were always crying." Cuddy's voice was low again. She reached up her free hand and brushed away a tear that was just about to fall. "Why waste your tears on me? I'm quickly becoming a lost cause."

Cameron choked out a sob at that. She held Cuddy's hand that was at her face, pressing it to her cheek.

"There are other patients here, patients you can actually save. I couldn't save Maggie. This is my punishment. I accept it."

"Well, I don't," Cameron said in mid sob.

"If you haven't found out what's wrong with me now, you never will." Cuddy appeared brave, but was breaking down beneath the surface. "I have a day left, at max. A clot will form in my aorta and I'll go into cardiac arrest, or I'll clot in my lungs and develop pulmonary embolism. It can't be stopped. We both know it."

"Stop saying that!" Cameron cried. "You're not going to die!"

"Go help someone else," Cuddy whispered, brushing the pad of her thumb across the underlining of Cameron's eye as her hand continued to cup her cheek. She could barely hold her arm up. "My hands are numb, my body hurts, I can feel organs trying to work harder to keep me alive, and they're getting tired. Just leave me. Please."

"There's no one else here I would want to be with. You're getting my full devotion, whether you like it or not. And you're getting your blood cleaned so we can start over. Sign this." She thrust the clipboard to Cuddy.

Cuddy took the clipboard reluctantly and read over what they wanted to do with her.

Suddenly, her mouth dropped and her eyes widened. It alerted Cameron right away.

"What?" she asked.

"Cameron, my blood type is O negative, not O positive."

Cameron wore the same look as Cuddy after that. When they did Cuddy's transfusion, they gave her the right type, but the wrong Rh factor! Cameron suddenly started to feel lightheaded. Is that all it was? Could fixing the mistake of a wrongful transfusion end this and cure Cuddy? Cameron could feel the pieces of puzzle come together in her head. She had never been happier to hear that it was something they could fix just by cleaning her blood and giving her the right type!

Cameron rushed to Cuddy's chart at the end of the bed. It did say she was O positive on her chart, which is probably why Cameron never gave it a second thought. She never knew Cuddy's blood type. There was obviously a mix up during surgery and Allyn who administered the transfusion saw this chart and gave her what he saw. How this mix-up came to be was tomorrow's problem. Today, they were bringing Cuddy back.

-------------------

"Allyn gave her the wrong blood type!" Cameron shouted, barging into House's office not long after she found out. She scared the three that had their backs turned to her. Chase nearly flew out of his chair. Cameron walked in, beaming like crazy. She also had to catch her breath, which means she didn't wait for the elevator, she raced up the stairs. "That would explain the clotting, the seizing, and the internal bleeding! Her body was attacking itself because of the wrong type, making her have chest pains, the minor heart attack, anaphylactic shock, and eventually multiple organ failure. It all fits!"

"Thank you for filling our ears with you annoying shrieking voice!" House yelled dramatically. "We're all deaf now!"

Neither of them had seen Cameron this happy in a long time. After what they've seen of her the past few days, just Cameron being this happy put smiles on their faces. Not even Jenny could annoy Cameron now. Nothing could!

"Cuddy told them herself and they're fixing it. They're cleaning her blood and giving her the right type as we speak." Cameron couldn't stay still. Her fidgeting was getting on House's nerves.

"No more coffee for you," he muttered, erasing his whiteboard, full of Cuddy's symptoms that he'll no longer need. "Not even decaf. I'm not risking the chances."

"Well, I think that's great news. Is she awake now?" Foreman asked, coming to a stand. Chase followed, wearing a smile of his own.

Cameron nodded. "I was going back up there after I told you guys."

"Cameron, I hate to burst your bubble, but cleaning her blood and giving her the right type isn't going to make the clotting go away." Of course House would have to ruin her happy moment. Even after hearing that Cuddy was going to live, he didn't budge. He continued to be his typical self.

"Then we'll start her on the anticoagulants again. Once she has the right type, we don't have to worry about internal bleeding. Either way, she's getting better and not even you can upset me now."

Cameron left the office and Foreman and Chase followed, wanting to see their boss. House didn't move. He just stayed frozen in front of the whiteboard, holding the dry eraser, as if he just heard the worst news imaginable.

---------------------

While they were cleaning Cuddy's blood, they brought back in the anticoagulants to thin the clots and so far, it was working. Just like that, Cuddy didn't feel as much pressure as she did on her chest and her body managed to mellow out. That could possibly be the effects of the different medications running through her body to try to get her cleaned up. At least she wasn't feeling pain or needed to be on oxygen, that's what mattered.

Foreman entered the room first, followed by Chase.

"Well it's about time!" Cuddy said, reaching her arms out as her employees came to her bedside. She hugged Foreman first, followed by Chase. "I was beginning to think you guys forgot about me."

"We're so glad to hear you're not dying on us any time soon," Foreman said, tapping Cuddy's shoulder. "I knew nothing could bring you down for long."

"Yeah, well, it almost did. If I didn't see the consent form when I did, I might not have been so lucky. If it weren't for Cameron, I would've given up. Where's House?"

"Probably in his office watching someone play _Dr. Mario_ on _YouTube_," Cameron said, crossing her arms with a chuckle.

"Huh?" Chase questioned, furrowing a brow.

Cameron waved her hand, dismissing the conversation. House is House. There's no need to explain anything.

"Where's your friend?" Foreman asked. That's what Cameron wanted to know. The last time she saw her, she went to cancel her massage appointment. That was over a half hour ago.

Cuddy shrugged. "I don't know. Probably in the waiting room on her cell phone canceling her nail appointment this time. She's just as I remembered her."

"Is it true that she's your ex?" Chase asked hesitantly.

Foreman laughed at his tentativeness. He was like a shy boy asking that question.

"What?" Chase asked, wondering why he was laughing at him.

"Only you, Chase."

"It was a harmless question," he defended. "And I'm curious. Aren't you?"

"Yes, it's true," Cuddy said. She couldn't hide it anymore. Might as well come out with it. "We dated in med school. Well, she did the dating, I just tagged along with the title."

"She's not even your type," Chase pointed out, sounding confused. "She's not even a type that House would go out with and he'll…you know…anything that walks."

Chase didn't like to be too blunt around Cuddy. Him finding other words as substitutions brought in laughs from around the room, including Cuddy. He was usually nervous in front of her, but seeing her in this circumstance made him extra nervous.

"Thanks for that wonderful mental picture, man," Foreman said, tapping him on the shoulder. "I'm sure I'll sleep better tonight."

"I'm serious!" Chase's voice strained, making him sound like a teenager going through puberty.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Cuddy said. "I don't know why I chose to be a part of something that would only hurt me in the end. And now she's back here talking about miscellaneous stuff, never once asking me if I was okay. I'll be glad when she leaves and then I'll kill House for calling her."

"Speak of the devil," Cameron muttered, moving further into the room when Jenny bounced in. She saw two new faces and immediately calmed down.

"Who are they?" she asked, not removing her smile. Naturally, Chase was the first to stare and fall completely flabbergasted to the point where if he tried to speak, he would stutter. His cheeks grew red. He only heard from Cameron and House feedback on Jenny. He never actually seen her. Cameron sure was right when she said she was a Barbie doll!

"Chase and Foreman," Cameron said, not bothering to tell her which one was which. "You know, Cuddy's better now, so you don't have to stay."

"Does…everyone always call you by your last name like that?" she asked, completely ignoring Cameron. "That's just weird. And annoying." She glanced over to Cameron. "So I guess Camden isn't your first name."

"No, it's not," Cameron said, not bothering to correct her. She was more concerned with getting Jenny out of here than her learning what her actual name was. "You can leave now."

Jenny knew she was being rushed out and unwanted. All she did was scoff and roll her eyes like some valley girl. "Well, fine, then. Mind if I say goodbye to Lisa first, seeing as though I did waste my time coming down here for nothing."

"You have five seconds." Cameron spoke harshly through clenched teeth.

Foreman and Chase were amazed by Cameron's attitude towards her. They were amazed by her attitude in general! Cameron was nasty when it came to people she didn't like. They made a mental note never to get on her bad side with the exchange of glances between the two.

Jenny stuck her fists to her hips. "I'll take five _minutes_ if I want, bitch. You've been pushing me around since I got here and I don't like it." She approached Cameron and got into her face, fighting back with her, as if this was the first time it happened. Cameron brought that up.

"So now all of a sudden you choose to get in my face?" she asked, not fazed in the least about being confronted by the taller woman. "Where were you when I made the first crack? In one ear and out the other? Are you a natural blonde?"

"Actually no, it's professionally done. What about you? Is yours real? Because it definitely looks like you have some blonde spots."

Foreman and Chase exchanged another batch of looks, including a frown. They were thinking the same thing. Who fights about one another's hair?

"Uh, excuse me, but do you mind? I have a bit of a headache here," Cuddy said, evidently being forgot about. Cameron went to apologize, but was interrupted even before she could open her mouth. Jenny continued, clearly not hearing Cuddy. If she did, she didn't care.

"You're just jealous that I had Lisa and you still don't, even though you spent the last three days holding her hand like some sappy girl with no life. It aggravated her, just so you know. She told me right from her mouth that she can't stand you, that's why she fired you." Jenny sounded as she were bragging, as if Cuddy hired her instead to replace Cameron. Cuddy tried to interrupt them by calling Jenny's name to get her to stop, but she just ignored it. "It didn't have anything to do with your performance or the fact that you were distressing her. She just couldn't stand you. And I know why, because you think everything's about you in one way or another. This whole procedure was about you, from what I saw. If things didn't go _your_ way, it was the highway! So the next time you think _I'm_ selfish, evaluate yourself, bitch," she said, giving Cameron a little shove after speaking so very close to her face.

Cameron didn't bother to fight back. Instead, her face softened half way through Jenny's allegation. It was a true kick in the face and she didn't know what to say.

"Is that true?" Cameron asked Cuddy, who was taken aback herself that Jenny could just blurt out what they've been talking about right to Cameron's face. "Is that why you fired me?"

"Of course it is! You're the worst of the bunch, because you're both whiny AND over-ambitious. Those two don't mix, sweetheart."

Cameron narrowed her eyes at Jenny. It's as if Jenny were gloating and knew she was right. That pissed Cameron off even further. "Why don't you just get the fuck out of here? Go to your nail appointment and get your massage and forget this useless trip ever happened, because I know how it was _so_ a waste of your time," she said, imitating her valley girl tone at _so_.

Jenny seemed to be insulted. She stuck her fists to her hips and scoffed like a preppy teenager. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Cameron said, taking a step closer to her. If Jenny had the nerve to push her again, Cameron would fight back. Her hand already flinched twice as she had the urge to slap the random smiles off Jenny's face. "At least I can take comfort in knowing that no matter how whiny I am or how assertive I may be, I'll never be you."

Jenny's blue eyes widened. "Is that supposed to be insulting, because god knows I never want you to be me. And by the way…" She leaned in closer to Cameron's ear so only Cameron could hear what she was about to say next. "I tore Lisa's heart out of her chest after I used her…and her despair felt great."

Cameron lost it after that. Her body took over her mind as she punched Jenny square in the face just as she started to move her head back. A loud crack filled the room and Jenny's nose instantly started bleeding. Even though she was hit, Jenny firmly kept her footing as Cameron tried to shove her backwards, using the strength she acquired from being angry. Her entire body burned with fury, giving her a new feeling to experience for the first time. She didn't care if she made Jenny bleed and possibly break her nose. She would do it a hundred times over again after what she said she did to Cuddy.

Cameron was so angry after Jenny made that comment. The idea that someone could even think to do something like that to Cuddy angered her immensely.

Cameron didn't expect Jenny to be on guard and didn't see her hand coming at her face until it was too late. Jenny had hit her with twice as much strength, but with no point, other than a 'you hit me first, so I have every right to hit back' attitude. It was that, and Jenny couldn't stand Cameron any more than Cameron could stand her.

After she was hit, Cameron lunged at Jenny so hard that her baseball cap flew right off the top of her head. The two engaged in such an affray that left Cuddy in tears with her hand over her mouth in shock. Chase and Foreman stepped in quickly a second before the big part of the brawl started. Chase pulled Jenny back while Foreman grabbed Cameron by the waist to back her up.

"Cameron, stop!" Foreman shouted over Cameron's yelling as she thrashed in his arms, trying to get loose. She thrashed so hard that she kicked both her legs up in the air, using that as a last resort to get Jenny. "Enough!" he added when he felt her nails digging at his hands to release her.

Jenny was the same way at first, but she calmed down.

"You all saw that," Jenny said, catching her breath and touching her tender nose that was already starting to bruise. The front of her shirt had small blood trails on it. "She hit me first."

"They will never take your side!" Cameron said, still having to be held back, but wasn't thrashing around as much.

No one knew it, but Cuddy had buzzed for security when the fight broke out and the first punch was thrown. Two uniforms stepped into the room, eyes wide at the familiar Dr. Cameron being held back by her colleague and some unknown woman with a bloody nose.

"Get her out of here," Cameron growled, able to be let go. Foreman released her. "Dr. Cuddy doesn't need this."

"She threw the first punch!" Jenny screeched, not caring about Cuddy. She only cared about herself. It wasn't anything new. "Look at my nose!"

The uniforms knew Cameron and everyone in the room very well, except for the broken Barbie doll.

"Just get her out of here," Foreman said when they were taking longer than normal to decide who to drag out of the room, kicking and screaming.

"I didn't do anything!" Jenny shouted when one of the uniforms took her by the arm and ushered her out of there. She defended herself all the way down the hall until her voice faded away.

"Cameron…" Cuddy tried lightly from the bed. Everyone appeared to have forgotten about her. It's as if Cuddy disappeared during the fight and popped back up after it was over.

Tears immediately fell from Cameron's eyes. Her head dropped. "I'm so sorry," she said, wiping a tear from her eye, but did so lightly. The area around her left eye was very tender and would most likely leave a bruise. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"What the hell did she say to you?" Chase asked, still getting over the fact that he saw a side to Cameron that he didn't know existed.

Cameron shook her head. "Nothing."

"Obviously it was something," Chase pressed.

"It was nothing!" Cameron shouted, but not loudly.

Chase held his hands up in surrender. "Alright already. Forgive me for being concerned. I've never seen you break someone's nose before."

"That bitch was lucky I didn't do more than that," Cameron said. "Forget about Cuddy killing House for bringing her down here. That pleasure will be reserved to _me_."

Suddenly, Chase and Foreman's beepers went off in unison. Both of them sighed after looking at them. "Security wants the witnesses," Foreman revealed.

Cameron looked worried. Foreman resting his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. There's no way we're sticking up for her, but it might be a good idea for you to tell us what she said so it'll give us some ground to stand on."

Cameron had no choice. She told the both of them that Jenny was proud of using and ditching Cuddy and the aftereffects that came with it. She kept it in between them. Foreman sighed and thanked her under his breath. They left after that to go talk to security.

Cameron fell quiet again.

"Cameron…" Cuddy started slowly and carefully when Foreman and Chase were at least ten seconds gone and Cameron didn't move from the spot she was in, fists clenched lightly and eyes cast to the ground.

"I realize that I sometimes let my emotions run my life, and my job. It's what motivates me. It's how I work. I know I can be imperious and…pushy…if some things don't go my way when I'm fighting a valid argument where I know I'm right. I didn't help save your life or sit by you because I pitied you. I did it because…at some point during this ordeal, whether it was in surgery, or after surgery when I was holding your hand…I fell in love with you."

Cuddy's eyes watered. She blinked back the tears, biting her lower lip. Cameron didn't notice, for she couldn't bring herself to look at Cuddy.

"It's not something I chose to happen. You can't control who you fall in love with. And then you go off and tell someone you haven't seen in twenty years that you fired me because you couldn't stand me…That was low, Cuddy, even for you."

"Cameron, I'm sorry," she said, followed by a small sob. "It was wrong of me."

Cameron finally met her eyes, which were sad, and pleading for forgiveness at the same time. She was desperate for Cuddy to see what she's done for her. She felt she had to show her exceptionally after what happened just now with Jenny.

"I don't sleep for three days. I vow not to leave the hospital until you walk out of here as well, and you still have the nerve to talk about me to that fake blonde bimbo who waltzes in here randomly and takes over your life when we've been working _our_ asses off to find a diagnosis! If only you knew just how horrified and fearful I was this entire time. If only you _knew_ how scared I was of losing you…But you don't care. Because to you, I'm just Allison Cameron, the doctor you fired because you couldn't stand her unrelenting behavior."

"That's not true!" Cuddy cried.

"Yes it is!" Cameron shouted back. "Even yesterday after I said I liked you, you shoved me out that door so fast that it certainly wouldn't hit me on the way out! I disgust you, all because I was brave enough to do what most people in this world are afraid to do because the consequences might not being in their favor. Guess they weren't in mine." Cameron paused briefly to bite her lower lip. "And the fight with Jenny was apparently for nothing."

"Cameron…" Cuddy tried again, but much quieter this time.

"Now that I know you're better, I'll leave today. You'll never have to see me again and you can put the kiss and my feelings for you in the shredder."

"Stop talking like that, for god sakes!" Cuddy yelled, throwing her arms out. Her eyes widened when Cameron made a break for the door. "Don't you walk out that door! Cameron!"

Something inside Cuddy lit on fire. If she let Cameron leave now, her gut told her she would never see her again. Whether that was true or not, Cuddy didn't want her leaving here with this fresh in her head. She wanted to set things right.

Cuddy reached over and shut the machine off that was cleaning her blood. She didn't give herself much time to think, especially about the consequences for stopping the procedure before it was finished. Everything was moving too fast. Cameron was out the door and it's only a matter of time before she's out of sight and unreachable. Cuddy peeled back the tape and ripped the IV needles from the bends of her arm, feeling nothing except a small adrenaline rush. Ignoring the blood from the open wounds that was now dripping everywhere, she pulled back the blankets and swung her legs over the side of the bed. When she went to get up, there was a sheering sharp pain where she had the blood clot removed. A small cry of pain escaped her lips, but she was quick to ignore it. She tried putting most of her weight on her left leg while limping to the door, but didn't get very far until her knees buckled out from beneath her, bringing her to the ground on her side with a thud. She cried out as a sharp pain zapped her side. Even on the ground, her body trembled and the breath she took in between clenched teeth was shaky. Her leg burned as she used whatever upper body strength she had to pull herself to the door, digging her fingernails into the linoleum to help her. She never thought twice on how precarious this was, risking her life just to call Cameron back to apologize.

It was worth it after what events happened previously between them, and the one that happened just now with Jenny. That was Cuddy's incentive. Underneath it, she had feelings for Cameron also, only she didn't have the courage to admit it. She was one of the people in the large percentile that was afraid of the other person rejecting them if they let them know how they really feel. In the end, it's better they remain friends if the words go untold rather than the other person thinking awkwardly of them.

Cameron was brave. Nothing could hold her back, not even her feelings for Cuddy. Cameron was prepared for the results. Someone as prominent as Cuddy would never accept such eccentric behavior in her life. Knowing Cameron was of the same sex, it would be completely unheard of! But then Cameron comes to find out that Cuddy had a girlfriend in college…so maybe it is possible something could blossom between them.

Cameron gets a little braver, finds her courage, and then kisses her before saying anything first. And then Cuddy has another seizure, so nothing further could be said there. Still, that doesn't stop Cameron. She continues to hold these feelings in her heart as the person she loves continues to whither away…with her ex in her room, no less. And after learning about what Cuddy had told Jenny, she still came out admitting she loved her. Cuddy felt so guilty and used that guilt to stimulate her into forcing herself to reach the door. She could feel her chest start to burn and her legs grow numb. She knew that was because of the lack of blood to her brain. It was incredibly dangerous to be in this situation, but there was no turning back now. Grunting, groaning, and straining herself to the maximum, Cuddy made it to the door and immediately opened her lungs and screamed for Cameron. It was her aim to scream loud enough to fill up the entire lobby, but her being so weak from dragging herself to the door didn't allow her that, and either did the violent coughing that happened after she tried to scream. She knew Cameron's name came out of her mouth, but not very loudly. She was able to get partially out the door before collapsing to the ground after her arms became too weak to hold her upper body up.

Cameron didn't go too far. She was at the nurse's station the entire time, speaking to whoever was there. Through cloudy vision, Cuddy saw her running to her, as well as a handful of others.

"I'm sorry…" Cuddy whispered incoherently before becoming out of it. She was conscious, but barely. Her brain wouldn't allow her to process anything because of the loss of blood. She was seconds away from blacking out.

She felt her body being picked up easily off the ground back into the bed she became too familiar with. Everything was black and soundless, but she could still feel. She felt many hands on her trying to bring her back to them, including one at her face, giving her oxygen, but there was one hand that was memorable to her. It was an unbiased hand that was with her the entire time, no matter what words were exchanged. Concentrating hard enough and putting all her focus into it, Cuddy squeezed the hand that was in her own.

What Cuddy did to herself just now was risky and would probably be yelled at by everyone she knew about how stupid she was, especially by House, who wouldn't waste time in calling her an idiot once she finally woke up.

People do some strange things for love. In Cuddy's case, they risk their own life for a single chance to say I love you and set things right. Cuddy would do it a hundred times over if she knew that it wouldn't make Cameron feel hurt.

Jenny coming to Princeton-Plainsboro had a positive effect after all. It awakened some feelings inside Cuddy, the feelings that were thought to be laid to rest when she never saw Jenny again. It helped her be able to bring out her feelings for Cameron.

Shortly, all hands left her, except for that one special hand that stayed locked with hers. Cameron was back. This time, she wasn't leaving.

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**There is one more chapter to go and the next one is probably more dramatic. Bit of a tear-jerker too. Review, please! :)**


	10. Welcome Back, Cuddy

**Well, folks, this is it! Big hugs and kisses to everyone who reviewed and stayed in touch with the story! Your feedback is well appreciated!**

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It was still black, but Cuddy was able to think logically and feel the area around her. The air was colder than normal. She found the perfect use of her legs and walked further into the black nothing, but did so slowly, for the fear of tripping over something. She was no longer in pain, feeling just as she did before the attack.

What was she looking for? What was waiting for her?

"Cameron?" she called out, a little afraid of her surroundings. She turned her head in all directions, but saw nothing, not even a speck of light in the distance. It's as if she was in a black hole with no way out.

She remembered what just happened. Was this the plane between life and death? Did she die trying to bring Cameron back to her?

Cuddy would've went on asking herself questions, but a small beam of beautiful white and blue light from high in the sky a few feet away from her caught her attention instead. She stopped walking and stared at the light, as if someone were going to shoot down and come to her. Nothing seemed too farfetched now. What really scared her was that being the light to take her to the other side. She lightly clenched her fists by her side. She didn't dare say anything.

There was nothing intimidating about the shiny beam. In fact, it was calming and soothing, mellowing her out, as if to ease her through the transition to the other side, like from the movie _Ghost_.

Nothing was happening. No one showed up and no voices were heard. She was supposed to move forward and go to the other side. She had a gut feeling that's what was supposed to be happening.

Cuddy still didn't move. Tears came to her eyes. She couldn't leave yet! There were still so many things she wanted to do with her life. There was the hospital, her benefactors, her wanting to have a baby, and even House. That son of a bitch was enough in its own to hold her back from going to the other side. If she ever told him that, he'd probably roll around in a laughing fit.

And then there was Cameron, the one person who never gave up on her. Cuddy's heart fell. She owed Cameron an explanation. Actually, she owed her more than that.

Cuddy flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her head immediately wrenched to the side.

"I've always thought the transition to be the hardest part," Cameron said, appearing out of nowhere beside her. "If you believe in Heaven." She looked from Cuddy with a small smile on her face to the light in front of her.

"How did you get here?" Cuddy asked.

"You brought me here." Cameron walked in front of her. Cuddy saw her easily, as if Cameron's body was perfectly illuminated just for this one particular moment. "I guess the rule is…you're allowed to see one person before you move on."

Tears fell from Cuddy's eyes. "I'm…dead?"

Cameron shook her head. "No…We're hoping it doesn't come to that."

"What happened?"

Cameron looked upwards. Suddenly, the area was filled with the sounds of flat lining machines, hurried voices, crying, and yelling.

"Come on, Dr. Cuddy, don't leave us! Come on, dammit!" The anxious voice belonged to Foreman, who heard what happened and raced back upstairs as fast as he could. "Turn it to 425 and go again!"

Cuddy's mouth dropped. She guessed he was the one using the paddles to try to bring her back to life, but yet, here she couldn't feel anything, so she didn't know if t was working. If it was working, would she still be here?

In the background, she heard crying. She was able to zoom in on that voice. It was Cameron's voice, yelling for Cuddy to come back to her and that she was sorry for everything.

Cuddy looked at the Cameron in front of her. "If you're up there…how are you here?"

"The same way you are. I'm here in spirit. I'm presenting myself the way you want to see me, which is a non-emotional mess."

"So…you're only going to say what I want to hear?"

Cameron shook her head. "No. I'm still me. I'm capable of my own thoughts and feelings. You're an idiot for doing what you did. You knew that disconnecting yourself from the machine would cause you to lose consciousness and clot faster with the knowledge that you could die, but you did it anyway."

"I didn't want you to leave."

Cameron stepped forward and reached out her hand to brush Cuddy's tears away. Cuddy felt her hand at her face. She covered it with her own and shut her eyes tightly, wanting to be anywhere but here, and with Cameron by her side.

"I wouldn't have left you. Even if you tied me up and threw me into the ocean, I would still find a way to get back to you. I love you," Cameron said.

Cuddy kissed Cameron's hand, but didn't open her eyes. "I love you, too," she sobbed.

"Please come back to us. Come back to me."

"I will. I promise."

Cuddy wasn't ready to end her life there when her life had just begun with Cameron. She refused to move towards the light and spent her time embracing Cameron, as if Cameron were a teleportation device that would get her out of that place. It started to feel intimidating and cold there. It was a place that was taking her away from her loved ones, not sending her to a world of peace and tranquility. It might as well have been Hell she was being taken to. Under no circumstances was she stepping forward and Cameron had no plans to have it come that far, even if she was just in Cuddy's subconscious and not really there. Both of them wanted the same thing. Cuddy vowed to give her that, plus much more. She needed to be alive for that. She couldn't die without Cameron ever knowing how she really felt.

Cuddy's determination was strong. In the room, she was clinically dead for a minute, surrounded by teary colleagues and devoted employees that took it hard. It hit Cameron the hardest. House was in there, having to pull her away when they called time of death. The clot had moved its way up and blocked the main artery responsible for pumping the blood throughout the major parts of the body, stopping her heart instantly. They tried to hook her up to a machine that would pump her heart for her, but the clot wouldn't allow the flow of blood to pass, causing it to build up.

Suddenly, the flat line disappeared and the machine started beeping normally again. Cuddy gasped in air to fill her vacant lungs. Everyone in the room was alerted and astonished. Foreman reached in to feel her pulse at the side of her neck. He revealed to the rest of the room that it was strong.

"The adrenaline must've shifted the clot," Chase said, checking Cuddy's heart with a stethoscope. "Her heart's beating normal."

Cameron was the first to waste no time in getting as close to Cuddy as she could, in tears no less, thanking god, despite her being an atheist. The rest of the room's inhabitants didn't appear to take notice in her actions. Somehow they already knew that Cameron had a thing for their boss. Must be House's big mouth.

Cuddy was hooked back up to the machines that cleaned and filtered her blood. It was as if this never happened.

"You're an idiot!" House said immediately when Cuddy's eyes started to flutter open shortly after she started breathing regularly and being hooked up to oxygen through the nose. She had the option to talk if she could find her voice.

"Thanks, House," she said, voice breaking, but sounded coherent. She definitely called that one, guessing how he would react to what she did.

"You gave us quite a scare," Foreman said with relief, leaning over to hug her. "Don't let that happen again."

He kissed her cheek. Cuddy chuckled. Her voice was very rough, as if she were extremely tired. "I won't. I'm sorry."

She received hugs all around from her thankful employees, including Chase, Foreman, and Wilson. Everyone except House. That was a given. He wouldn't allow himself to be subjected to all this mushiness. It's a wonder he stayed in the room as long as he did. He stood beside Cameron, continuing to call Cuddy a moron for what she did, even though she understood that she could die.

"House, why don't you go finish watching that _YouTube_ gameplay and bother Cuddy later," Wilson suggested. "Or go look up Lisa Edelstein; I hear that her movie clips from _Susan's Plan_ and _Keeping the Faith_ are killer."

House frowned. "Who?"

"Just go. Actually, I'll go with you to make sure you go to your office without taking a detour and accidentally finding yourself back down here."

House scoffed and stood. "Fine, I can take the hint. You going to sterilize the nipples, too, mommy? Cuddy, I'm glad you didn't bite the dust."

Cuddy chuckled weakly. Even in the worst of times, he finds some way to make her laugh. "Thanks, House. You're too kind."

House and Wilson left. After updating Cuddy on the procedures and what to expect, Foreman and whoever else was remaining had left. He didn't have to go too into detail, for Cuddy already knew what to expect. They wanted to get her in for surgery as quickly as possible to remove the clot near her heart. It shifted downwards again, making the surgery possible.

Now it was just Cameron in there with her. For the past fifteen minutes since Cuddy's revival and through the relieved cheers and hugs, Cameron was smoothing Cuddy's hair with her hand and interlacing their fingers together with her free hand when Cuddy didn't need it to hug her staff.

"You scared me so bad," Cameron said, stroking her hair gently. "I felt I was the one dying."

Cuddy apologized. Immediately after, she thanked her.

"For what?" Cameron asked, wondering why she was thanking her.

"For pulling me back," Cuddy said and then used her free hand to grasp Cameron by the collar of her shirt and bring her down for a kiss.

Cameron's eyes were wide for a moment. She never expected Cuddy to make such a bold move, especially after what she just went through. She allowed her eyes to close as she kissed back with so much fervor that it caused a moan to escape Cuddy's throat. Cameron crawled into bed beside her and sealed their bodies together as the kiss continued. Cameron did keep it in mind that Cuddy didn't have the strength and took it easy on her.

Cameron let Cuddy control the vehement of the kiss so it wouldn't be too overpowering. It amazed her how fast her strength came back. Their kiss went on for a good minute until they both mutually pulled back to gasp for air. Cuddy's hand lingered on Cameron's cheek as their eyes spoke to one another. They didn't have to verbally say that they loved one another. It was in their eyes and most definitely in the kiss.

"Get some sleep," Cuddy told Cameron, holding her hand and kissing the top of her head.

Cameron agreed to. She rested her head up on Cuddy's shoulder and felt her eyes grow heavy instantly. She wasn't sure what Cuddy meant by her pulling her back and right now it really didn't matter. Being shushed and relaxed to sleep by the heartbeat of the one you love is the most comforting feeling in the world. Soon, they were both asleep.

Cuddy was officially back to work in two weeks. As soon as she got out of the ICU, she went straight home to take a much-needed shower that wasn't done by a sponge and get a decent change of clothes. After, she went back to the hospital. She had to finish getting caught up on the horrendous stack of papers that piled up in the two weeks that she was gone. A week ago she was able to have her work brought to her in the ICU while she recovered. Because of that, there was no need for a replacement. It's hard to find temporary Deans of Medicine anyway and Cuddy had a specific system she kept when it came to her filing. Having a temporary would only cause stress that she didn't need during recovery. Even though everyone seemed distant during Cuddy's stay here, they had every ounce of assurance that she would pull through, so researching for another Dean was out of the question.

Cuddy sighed heavily and sat in her seat. She smiled. It was nice to be back here, even if she is faced with a whole lot of paperwork that wasn't brought to her in the ICU. In front of her was the last chart she looked at before the attack. It was the chart on Maggie Flannigan that she never put away. Swallowing hard, Cuddy opened it. Maggie was undiagnosed up until Cuddy diagnosed herself. Somehow, both of their charts revealed the wrong blood type. Cuddy and Maggie were O negative. When they gave Maggie O positive for her transfusion, her body attacked itself and clotted severely. No one saw the clot in her heart until it was too late. How the clot got there was a mystery to everyone. It was too late for Maggie, but Cuddy felt a relief that she knew how she died and it wasn't directed to something she did.

Taking a deep breath, Cuddy picked up her phone and dialed the penitentiary where Cameron said Mr. Flannigan was. Following a moment of trying to get through, and going through several people, Cuddy finally got through to him after being on hold.

"If you're not my lawyer, I really don't have anything to say," he said quickly and was seconds away from hanging up.

"Mr. Flannigan, don't hang up, it's Lisa Cuddy from Princeton-Plainsboro," she said, twice as hurried, afraid he would hang up on her.

He didn't say anything for a moment, but background activity told her he didn't hang up. It really wasn't a pleasant conversation. She didn't think it would be. She informed him on how his wife died and straight away, he wanted to sue the person responsible for giving her the wrong blood. Cuddy knew it would come down to that. Maybe it was a bad idea that she called. She figured Mr. Flannigan would want some peace of mind about his wife. People make mistakes. It's just unfortunate that some mistakes cost lives and to see justice, the person at fault has to be sued.

The rest of the call didn't go very well. Cuddy ended up in tears when she hung up. She expected him to still blame her and threaten to sue the hospital. He was already planning to, even though he was in lockup for attempted murder against Cuddy. They had the underground cameras as proof of that. The pacifist in her thought to consider dismissing the charges against him in exchange for letting his wife rest in peace. She didn't get that far to consider that option, because he had already hung up on her.

Cuddy wanted to put it behind her. What's done is done. She stood up and hid away Maggie's file in with the others in the filing cabinet.

A knock at the door made her turn around. Cameron entered the room.

"I can't believe you're back already," she said with a smile. Cameron allowed herself rest when it was officially confirmed that Cuddy would fully recover. This was two weeks ago. Cuddy healed fast. Nothing could keep her down for long.

She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, walking up to the front of the desk as Cuddy walked behind it.

"Yeah, well, the paperwork isn't going to file itself."

The smile on Cameron's face disappeared when she saw Cuddy wasn't returning it. "What's wrong?"

Cuddy shook her head, lowing her head. "Nothing. I'm just a little tired still, I guess."

"You don't sound tired; you sound like you just lost your best friend." Cameron knew that tone of voice well. "What happened?"

Cuddy took a deep breath. "I called Mr. Flannigan and told him what really happened to his wife," she said, meeting Cameron's eyes. "He threatened to sue me for negligence, and then Allyn directly."

Cameron's eyes widened. "How can he? He's in confinement!"

"He can still sue," Cuddy said, grabbing a handful of files from the corner of her desk and dropping them in the spot in front of her.

"Well…you're insured for that, right? I'm sure Allyn has malpractice insurance."

"That's not the point. If I caught it when I had the chance—"

"Cuddy, don't go there. You'll be beating yourself up for nothing, taking it back to square one. You diagnosed her, and yourself, so just let it go. You weren't directly responsible. You didn't administer the blood during the transfusion, nor did you know she had the wrong type charted. You're blaming yourself for nothing."

Cuddy sighed. She was right. Cuddy nodded. "I know."

"Just be thankful you didn't join her. God, I know I am."

Cuddy grinned.

"How's your leg?"

"It's okay…I was able to take the gauze off permanently and walk around on it normally with no pain. It's going to leave an awful surgical scar, though."

"It was either the surgery or you ending up walking like House."

That made the both of them laugh in unity, even though it wasn't really that funny.

"You made the right choices," Cuddy said, reaching her hand up across the desk to touch Cameron's cheek. "I don't know why they brought in Jenny," she added with a hint of annoyance, taking her hand back.

"I think it was House's doing. We didn't need your proxy for the surgery to remove the clot in your leg, so I don't know why we needed one to take you off the anticoagulants."

Cuddy shook her head in disbelief. "I'm afraid I'll never understand him. But at least Jenny coming back made me realize some things, especially one thing."

"What?" Cameron prompted.

"She made me grasp that I really hate blondes, so never become one."

Cameron chortled quietly. "Don't worry, I don't plan to now."

"She also reawakened something in me I thought was gone when I lost her and for that, I'll always be glad she came."

Cameron smiled. She knew where Cuddy was going with that. "So what time should I pick you up tonight?" she asked, leaning over the desk with her arms as support.

"Don't bother, I'll be over after work," Cuddy whispered, bringing her head closer to Cameron's. Their lips connected urgently. Cameron's hands went up to cup Cuddy's cheeks while Cuddy's hands pulled Cameron closer to her to the point where more than half her upper body leaned over the desk. Cameron had to use one of her hands to balance herself so she couldn't fall.

"By the way…" Cuddy breathed into her mouth, not disconnecting the kiss.

"Yeah…?" Cameron didn't break the kiss either.

"You're not fired."

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**What did you think? I've started a sequel that picks up right where this story leaves off and that'll be on here soon. There's lots of femslash and hot Cuddy x Cameron action to look forward to! And of course, since it is me, there will be drama and House poking his nose where it doesn't belong. Thanks again everyone for reading! :)**


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